Team Anko
by Lahmikhara
Summary: Naruto has been raised by an eccentric old man called Uzumaki Kenamo. Add a Hyuuga kinjutsu, different team members and another sensei. Who knows how their story will unfold. Reading this is the only way to find out.
1. Prologue: The beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto I'm simply borrowing this brilliant universe to write this.

Authors note:

I came up with the general idea for this story around 2007 and wrote nearly 100k words for it back then. Unfortunately, disaster struck and I lost nearly all of my work in a hard drive failure. Pretty much killing my motivation for finishing it. The idea kept swimming around in the back of my mind however. Until recently when I ended up talking with another author on this site going by the name of Clutus. Who after reading the initial 20k words that were still posted on this site, basically demanded I'd pick it up again and somehow managed to wake up my hibernating muse. Which hasn't stopped bugging me since. So here I am, once more committed to the story and I can honestly say it feels great to finally pick this up again.

The first chapter has been rather heavily edited from the version I posted back in 2008. The concept is still the same and some parts survived my muses editing spree but a lot of it has changed. So I decided to completely start over. Also please bear in mind that while I am rather confident in my English it isn't my native language. So some mistakes might slip in. If you do spot any glaring errors please let me know and I'll do my best to fix them and prevent them in the future.

Anyway without further ado I give you the prologue of a story that has been years in the making.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Prologue: The Beginning**

The earth shook as a primal roar tore through the village of Konoha, followed shortly by a suffocating presence so strong, that even those who weren't sensitive to chakra could sense it. The feeling of safety and peace that had been predominant since the end of the third great ninja war, shattered in an instance. Most of the villagers had no idea what was going on but long forgotten instincts urged them to flee for their life. They were the ones that had it easy...

For the ninja in the village and especially the sensors among them, it was much worse. Unlike the villagers, they could feel the sheer magnitude of the ancient power that was heading straight for their village. One of the few sensors that had been strong enough to stay conscious when the initial blast of power swept over them, compared their own to that of a candle next to a raging inferno. Needless to say, they did not like their chances if that force decided to attack their beloved home. In the end, it didn't matter. They were the proud ninja of the leaf and if needed they would give their lives to protect their own.

Then there were the few that recognised the feeling and knew what was coming for them. Most of them were veterans that had been alive when their first Hokage had defeated the Kyuubi with the help of his wife Uzumaki Mito, or had felt something similar during one of the wars. They hurriedly sent their loved ones to the shelters and prepared for what likely would be the last fight of their life. They knew that their chances of survival when fighting one of the Bijuu was slim at best.

Finally, there was a select group of people that knew exactly who it was. They had been present on the deathbed of Uzumaki Mito when they Kyuubi had been released from its seal. Originally they had planned to re-seal the strongest of the Bijuu in her niece Uzumaki Kushina. Something had gone wrong that night however and eventually, a large and ancient part of the land of fire had been sealed off. Keeping the Kyuubi in and everyone else out. However, by the feel of it, the barrier had either been broken or was about to. Leaving the Kyuubi free to roam the elemental nations once again.

* * *

 **"No, no, no, nooo! Dammit why today of all times!"** Kushina swore as she tore through her house in her weakened state. "Even I need time to recover from giving birth for Kami's sake!"

Little Naruto had been born last night. Minato left a while ago to get the paperwork in order and to get Sarutobi up to date on current affairs. The third had been kind enough to offer taking over as acting Hokage for a few weeks so her husband could be with his family. And uncle Kenamo left at sunrise to gather everything they'd need for her sons induction into the family jutsu. Which left her as the only seal master available to deal with the current crisis, before it was to late.

Reaching her destination at the families' hidden vault, she expertly manipulated the necessary seals, proved her identity as an Uzumaki by blood and recovered their scroll of sealing. Quickly opening it , she headed straight for the end where everything Bijuu related had been stored. A desperate sob escaped her when she found what she was looking for, and read what would be needed if the Kyuubi managed to break free. Simultaneously she felt the unmistakable spike of chakra signalling the appearance of her husband at her side.

" **Kushina!** We have to get Naruto and get you two to..." Minato's words died in his throat when he saw his wife and the way she looked at him. Kneeling on the floor, her clans' scroll of sealing clutched in her hands, and a mixture of fear and ironclad determination in her eyes.

"We can't... it has to be us. Only a carrier of the Uzumaki bloodline can survive the sealing." A single tear escaped her as she pointed at the relevant portion of the scroll. "Get Naruto and take us there. We may still be able to stop the barrier from breaking...". Taking a deep breath her voice cracked a bit as she continued. "But we need our son and be prepared for the worst".Minato hesitated for a second, knowing his wife was right, but still desperately searching his mind for a solution that wouldn't put his family in mortal danger.

Unfortunately he never got the time, as an ear shattering sound similar to breaking glass signalled the barrier had been destroyed. Steeling his resolve he manipulated time and space with his signature Hirashin no jutsu _(Flying thunder god technique)_ to grab his wife and son and teleport as close as he safely could to the rampaging Nine Tails.

* * *

Kushina quickly sped her way through the ancient forest, wincing every once in a while as her sore body protested the strain it was put through. She paid it no heed though, if she failed it wouldn't matter anyway and if she succeeded she could take the time to recover afterwards. Right now she was the only one who could prevent the Kyuubi from killing her loved ones, destroying her beloved village and even have a small chance of surviving to tell the tale. If something went wrong though… she hated to think of it but she needed a contingency plan.

"Minato! Take this and keep it safe." Taking out her families scroll she gave it to her husband who had been on her tail the whole time, carefully carrying their newly born son. "I don't plan on dying today, but if something goes wrong…

 **"You won't die! I won't let you! As long as I draw breath I won't allow any harm to come to you or our son!"** He interrupted her full of conviction.

"I know love, but you know as well as I do that I'm the only one around who can survive the sealing. You can't do this for me…" Taking a deep breath Kushina quickly gathered her thoughts. "Promise me… promise me, that whatever happens… that you protect our son."

"I'll protect you both!" Minato countered, he couldn't bear the thought of losing either of them, but knew their chances weren't good.

 **"Promise me! Whatever happens, Naruto comes first you hear!"**

At that moment his heart started breaking as he saw his strong, proud and stubborn wife openly crying and basically begging him to choose Naruto's well-being over her own. Unable to form the words, he nodded in agreement. Sealing the promise. Their time was up, they were close enough to start.

"Thank you, I love you. And you Naruto, stay strong dear. This is going to hurt but I know you can handle this!" Saying this she gave their son a teary eyed kiss, looked up at her husband, kissed him passionately and steeled her nerves. It was now or never and even though her chances were slim at best she was not going to give up now!

Her resolve set Kushina gave them one last loving look as Minato started preparing their son for the sealing. She gathered her chakra and charged straight in the way of the rampaging Kyuubi that was nearly upon them.

For a moment she faltered, the immense power of the Nine tailed fox momentarily overwhelming her senses. The utter rage and madness that was coming off of it actually physically hurting her. She hadn't come this far in life by giving up though and she wasn't about to start now! Flaring her chakra as high as it could go immense golden chains shot from her body managing to catch the demon lord by surprise.

A small grin appeared on her face as she managed to bind it in place. She wouldn't be able to hold on for long, the power was simply to much even for her chains. It would simply have to be enough. Had she been in perfect health it might have been a different story, sadly that wasn't the case.

 **"Minato! Bring Naruto I can't keep this up for long!"** While shouting this she started the long seal sequence required for a slight variation of the forbidden Uzumaki sealing technique her aunt Mito had used years ago, to seal the Kyuubi in herself. Something she unfortunately couldn't do. So close after giving birth that seal would kill her, and she could not bear the thought of letting her son grow up without her.

Glancing back she saw Minato quickly heading her way. At the same time feeling a disturbance near one of the Kyuubi's tails. _"What fool would be suicidal enough to get that close to a rampaging Bijuu?"_ Had it not been in spitting distance of one of her chains, the overwhelming power of the struggling Kyuubi would have certainly masked it.

Her eyes widened as with a sudden localised power spike said chain shattered. The Kyuubi's tail breaking free and it's tip shooting straight through her chest. The shocked looks of her husband and the third Hokage who shot into the clearing at that precise moment, the last thing she would ever see.

The crying of her son and the heartbreaking cry of her husband calling out her name in desperation the last thing she would ever hear…

* * *

Sarutobi spared a quick glance back, tears in his eyes as he recalled the last moments of one of his most precious shinobi. He had been in the office with Minato when everything went to hell. Both realising what was happening the moment they felt the Kyuubi's immense chakra. He had asked Minato if he knew where Kenamo was. They were going to need him for this. Only to learn that the old man was likely far from the village for something clan related. Cursing the timing he'd basically ordered the fourth to take his family to safety while he took care of the village.

Evidently, that hadn't gone as planned. When he felt the barrier breaking he knew they were in serious trouble. He'd summoned their strongest barrier squad and headed straight for the Kyuubi. Trusting the village to follow protocol for the highest state of emergency he had declared minutes ago. He'd arrived too late though.

First thing he saw when he entered the clearing was one of the fox's tails spearing straight through her chest. Before he had any chance of reacting he saw a yellow flash and found little Naruto in his arms. The fourth calling out his wife's name as the strongest Rasengan he ever saw crashed into the Kyuubi's tail in a desperate attempt to save her life. Unfortunately it had been to late and he had been forced to watch powerlessly as her life left her once vibrant eyes.

Meanwhile the barrier squad followed their training and set up their strongest barrier between them and the Kyuubi. They knew it wouldn't hold long but they gave everything they had to prevent further casualties. Sarutobi gathered his chakra prepared to give Naruto back to the fourth and go one on one with the Kyuubi as a distraction, so they could escape. When a heartbroken Minato ordered him to take Naruto to safety. Minato's Hokage guard appeared at the scene and were promptly ordered to find Hiashi and Jiraiya to send them to the Hokage tower.

Harshly shoving his grief aside Sarutobi cradled little Naruto in his arms on his way there. The heartbreaking cries of the infant that just lost his mother tugging at his heartstrings. As hard as it was though, grieving would have to wait. If they wanted to have anything left by the end of this hellish day something would have to be done. Fortunately it seemed like the Fourth had a plan.

Entering the room Sarutobi looked around and saw the familiar faces of his student Jiraiya and Hiashi Hyuuga, Minato's former teammate and most trusted friend. Both of them seemed anxious to get back out there and help their loved ones fight what so far seemed to be a hopeless battle.

Nothing short of a boss summon or an Akimichi with the size of one, seemed to be able to make it pause. Considering the clan head was the only one actually able to pull this off and not for a long time at that... all of them knew they needed something to give them an edge. Considering the fourth gathered them in the middle of this crisis instead of having them fight with the rest of the ninja population, they could only assume he thought of something and needed their help to pull it off.

"You called for us, Hokage-sama?"

Seeing his son arrive in the arms of predecessor Minato quickly took him in his arms. Not taking heed of the blood covering him. Comforting his son was more important right now. The comfort of having his closest friends around being the main thing that allowed him to keep a semblance of calm.

"I did, I need your advice. Let's go somewhere more secure first though. I can't risk any of this getting out."

Looking over at Hiashi and Jiraiya, Sarutobi saw his own concerns reflected in their eyes. If they were going 'there' to ensure they wouldn't be overheard, it had to be something very serious indeed. Getting up they followed the Yondaime into the conference room, which was next to the office.

The conference room was large, with a long rectangular table in the middle. The wall on the west side was filled with bookcases, the remains of a large broad window covered the east. It appeared to have been blown inward by an earlier attack.

 _One could enjoy the scenery of the entire village from here_ , Sarutobi reflected. The bookcases were mainly used to store reference scrolls of the meetings that took place in there. It had been used since he himself had become Hokage, he and his advisors had used it to discuss important decisions which would affect the entire village. This tradition had been kept alive when Minato became Hokage. However, this wasn't where they were headed.

Still following the Yondaime they silently walked to the northern end of the room. Straight to a large portrait depicting a sunset, by now the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Minato sighed, looking over through the window at his right he saw the bright flames that where a result of the fierce battle raging outside. He would have to hurry if he wanted to have a village left by the end of the day.

Taking a cleansing breath he put his hands together to form the familiar seals, the chant of "Hireki no jutsu" leaving his mouth with barely a whisper. In reaction to the Yondaime's chakra signature the portrait disappeared to make room for a large oaken door, which was the only entrance to a small room with just enough space for the four of them.

Entering, they saw the familiar sights of the place they had spent countless hours in. Here they discussed topics too important, or too dangerous, to risk being heard by outsiders. Apparently whatever Minato had to tell them, fell into this category. They walked over to the comfortable chairs, surrounding a wooden square table in the middle of the room. Sarutobi, Hiashi and Jiraiya made themselves comfortable while waiting for the Yondaime to speak up.

"The good news is I found a jutsu which should stop the Kyuubi". Studying their reaction to his first announcement, he saw the hope that was nearly lost, returning to their eyes. But apparently sensing his hesitation to continue, Minato noticed a look of suspicion and concern growing on his friends faces. They really did know him to well...

Feeling rather apprehensive about their reaction to the other part, he took another deep breath and continued: "The bad news is I won't live to tell the tale after I've used it." He looked back over at his longtime friends, in order to try and gauge their reaction.

Hiashi was the first one the message seemed to get through to. In a rare show of emotion the normally calm and collected man jumped up from his chair and actually started yelling at him: **"Minato! Have you gone insane! You're the Hokage for Kami's sake. We can't allow you to sacrifice your life! What about your family! What would Kushina say!"**

 **"Kushina is dead! The Kyuuby killed her a few minutes ago!"** Minato's furious reply momentarily shocked him into silence. Years of shoving his feelings behind a mask served him well in this case though. He had loved Kushina like a sister but right now there was nothing he could do for her. He would grieve for her if he survived the night. Right now his friend needed him more.

 **"Then think about your son! If you die as well the old man will be the only family he'll have left! Dying to follow after your wife isn't the answer, if you need a reason to go on then live for your son! You know Kushina would have wanted that!"**

 **"Dammit Hiashi, do you think I want to die!** That I want to have my son grow up as an orphan like I did? It's the only way I can make sure my son and everyone else I care about has a future after tonight."

Hiashi recognising his friend has made up his mind acknowledged that he wouldn't be able to change it. A quick look at the shocked faces of Jiraiya and Sarutobi told him he would get no help from them in this particular matter.

Blinking away his tears and holding Naruto close Minato decided to explain. "The only thing I can think of to stop the Kyuubi and save the village is a variation of the Shiki Fuujin combined with a family technique." Noticing their confused glances at the name of the Kinjutsu that had been developed by the Uzumaki clan a long time ago, he realised that they had no way of knowing about it, so he decided to elaborate a little. "Shiki Fuujin is basically a summoning technique that calls forth The God of Death. By summoning him I…-"

 **"You plan to do what!"** Jiraiya exploded his eyes full of disbelief after hearing what his prize student was planning to do. Minato, however, motioned for silence again. "Please, Sensei let me explain. As I was saying, by summoning him I should be able to divide the Kyuubi's very soul from his body. Normally his soul would be devoured by the death god, but I am afraid since the Kyuubi is a daemon and therefore an immortal being, his soul cannot be consumed this way".

"So instead of consuming him as normally would have been the case, I believe that you plan to seal his soul away"? Sarutobi commented looking questioningly at the Yondaime. "Exactly," Minato responded a bit surprised. "However since Kyuubi is so powerful we will have to seal him away in a living being, an object simply would be unable to keep it contained". Sarutobi was thinking out loud now and Minato decided to let him finish his musings and go from there.

"But how would the vessel survive the intrusion of something as powerful as the Kyuubi"? Sarutobi looked up questioningly at the Yondaime. "Even if the vessel was only a few days old and therefore has not completely formed his chakra coils, the sealing process would most likely destroy them faster then they could recover, unless…." Staring straight at little Naruto who had fallen in a restless sleep, realisation hit Sarutobi as a ton of bricks. "You'll use your son. Thanks to your families' bloodline techniques he would be the only one who would be able to survive the binding.

Minato just nodded, Sarutobi was able to figure it out completely. He had always been a very smart man so he wasn't all that surprised.

"There is one thing I don't understand though Minato." Jiraiya cut in. "Why don't you allow one of us to perform the Shiki Fuujin in your place? Every one of us in this room can perform a summoning jutsu so we should be able to learn it rather easily.

"I would never be able to ask one of you to sacrifice yourself in my place." Minato replied. Seeing all of them about to object he continued. "Besides I will have to combine the Shiki Fuujin with one of our family techniques in order to be able to bind the Kyuubi to my son".

Sensing his friends accepted though rather reluctantly that he was right, Minato decided to explain the details to them so everything could be arranged before it was too late. Opening a scroll on his table he showed them the six point seal he planned on using.

"You see this part symbolises the cage he will be sealed in," he said pointing at the four points on the outside of the seal. "This however is where the genius part comes in." Minato told them."This part here allows Naruto to tap in the Kyuubi's chakra when he needs to. I can't think of a better way to get revenge on him for killing Kushina. The powers of the most powerful daemon lord of all known history, used for good by our own legacy." Minato grinned slightly at this thought with his trademark mischievous twinkle lighting up his eyes.

"The downside however, is that Kyuubi may be able to use that to communicate mentally to my son. So I included a 6th point to the seal which will seal off the 5th until Naruto finds out he is the Kyuubi's keeper, or his life is in see this is where we have a problem, mad as the fox appears to be, I'm afraid he will affect my son once the seal on the link is broken and that is what I need your advice on. Do any of you know any way to prevent this from happening, or at least help my son through it?"

A long silence swept over the Yondaime's office, while the four friends where thinking of possibilities to prevent this from happening. Suddenly Jiraiya spoke up. "How about we hook him up to a nice girl? That should keep him distracted from the Kyuubi's influence!" Jiraiya snickered while thinking about how exactly this nice girl would accomplish this when he got hit over the head by Minato.

"What did you do that for?!" Jiraiya asked him indignantly. The Yondaime just sighed, "It's my own fault. I should've known better than to ask you about moral advice for my son's well being, sensei." he said shaking his head.

"As immoral as his ideas probably were he did give me an idea. This is one of the most highly guarded secrets of my clan. What I'm about to say does not leave this room, understood?" Hiashi said shooting a glare at nods in agreement from them Hiashi continued. "There is an ancient Kinjutsu in the Hyuuga clan which was used on infants when it was decided they were going to be partners in combat, life or in both. It was used to establish a…"

Hiashi was interrupted by the door slamming open. Everyone turned to the door looking up surprised when an old man near Sarutobi's age jovially walked into the room carrying a couple of sake bottles, a backpack and a deck of poker cards. He was wearing a black shinobi outfit with an orange whirl on the shoulders and the backside, marking him as one of the Uzumaki family. The most noticeable part though was the eagle claw hanging on his left ear, half hidden by his long white hair. Not noticing the serious atmosphere hanging around the room as a result of the meeting, the old man walked inside while putting down his backpack in a corner.

"Oi Minato, here is the animal tooth needed for the little tyke's bonding ritual. I was trying to find a bear, but the fox tooth that ended up in my arm should be even better." He was looking over at the Yondaime with a knowing look in his eyes and not for the first time Minato wondered about the old Uzumakis' unusual foresight.

"Oh! By the way did you guys notice that large demon fox trampling the village back there?" he said while pointing over his shoulder. Realising the little amount of time they had for the meeting was over Minato turned around facing the others.

"Jii-san I'm afraid I have to force you out of your well deserved retirement, please take care of Konoha for me." Overwhelmed by his emotions all Sarutobi could do was nod in a silent promise to Minato that he would do what he could to keep Konoha this he turned over to Jiraiya. "Good luck with your novels sensei I'm sure they will sell great once you finish them. Do keep them away from my son until he is old enough though." Unable to think of a good response for once Jiraiya gave Minato a hug. "Thanks kid," he said after gaining control over his voice again.

Stepping away from his Sensei, Minato went over to the last of his most trusted friends and his former teammate. "Hiashi make preparations for your clans Kinjutsu as soon as it's possible, I'm afraid I don't have time to hear the details but I trust you my friend."

Hiashi looked up in Minato's eyes for a moment seeing the despair of a man who knew he wasn't long for this world, but also the determination to do what is needed to save his people."I swear I'll do everything in my power to make sure your son gets the best chance he can get!" As he said this Hiashi bowed deeply to his dearest friend. "Tell Kushina I'll do what I can to protect him"."Thank you Hiashi, you have no idea how much of a comfort that is."

"Old man I need you to bring Naruto and prepare the binding ritual, and guys…. thank you for everything, it has been an honour." With those parting words and a single tear falling from his eye Minato disappeared in his signature yellow flash."Well I guess Poker night is off for now." The old man known as Uzumaki Kenamo quickly set down his poker cards and sake bottles and left with Naruto to get the needed supplies, an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.

* * *

"The ritual is almost prepared kid, I just need a few more minutes." Kenamo said.

Tearing his mind off of the thoughts that had kept him occupied since the earlier conversation they held, Minato turned around. Seeing his son lying in a crib in the middle of six candles, one candle for each point in the seal, Minato momentarily despaired. It was only brief however. He hardened his resolve for the sake of his village and more importantly his last remaining family, and soon he was more determined then ever to go through with it.

A note had been delivered by one of Hiashi's summon animals which showed a seventh point that had to be included in the seal, in order to make the Hyuuga Kinjutsu possible. Minato had used the necessary time to adjust the seal to clear up some questions that had been bothering him for a long time. Unfortunately, each mystery solved created a dozen more, and he didn't have the time to solve them all. The information he had been given seemed mind-boggling yet somehow it still made sense. It really was a shame he didn't have…

A loud crash sounded nearby as a huge part of the wall collapsed under the might of one of the Kyuubi's tails. Minato and Kenamo cursed at the same time when they saw how the Ninetails had penetrated the borders of the village. If there was to be any chance of defeating it before it wrecked all of their homes there was no time left to waste. Looking back at the old man he saw he would have to stall a bit since not all of the preparations had been completed yet."Take care of him." Was the last thing Minato said to him before he created some distance between them and summoned the boss frog going by the name of Gamabunta.

Immediately figuring out what the fourth was planning to do he mentally wished him luck and concentrated back on finishing the preparations for the ritual, time was running out and he could not afford to make even the slightest mistake in the preparations.

* * *

Minato was looking straight into the huge burning red eyes of the giant fox and saw nothing there but raw anger and a hint of madness. For a brief moment he thought he saw something else, but the anger quickly masked whatever emotion it could have been. For an instant, he was frozen in awe by the immense power the daemon lord gave off. He couldn't help but wonder what could have driven the powerful creature to attack the place he called home. The winds picked up and a heavy downpour started to fall from the gathering ominous clouds. As if nature itself was weeping over the destruction that would result from the epic battle that was going to take place. Lightning lit up the sky, a heavy thunder following it within less than a second.

Apparently taking this as a sign to start the battle the Kyuubi opened its enormous mouth. Minato felt a huge amount of chakra gathering as a ball of fire not unlike the patented Uchiha jutsu formed in between the mighty beasts' jaws. Releasing it at lightning speed at the first worthy opponent he had recognised in the boss frog.

In reflex Minato formed a seal that instantly transported Gamabunta and himself out of harms way as the Kyuubi had initiated an attack. His signature yellow flash being the only proof of them having moved at all. The raging inferno he had only just escaped laid several houses into ashes in seconds. The pressure the raw power of the foxes' chakra was giving off was immense. It dwarfed that of even the most powerful ninja in existence and the effect it was having on its surroundings was unmistakable. Only the strongest of Shinobi where capable of moving in close vicinity of the powerful creature.

Dispite what had happened before it was impossible not to be impressed by the eons old creature's raw power and beauty, but he knew there was no room for failure. He knew that if he failed that not only his beloved village Konoha would be obliterated from the face of the earth but soon others would follow. Thankfully he had the advantage of fighting in his home ground which was layered with seals that allowed him to transport Gamabunta and himself around in a moment's notice. It wouldn't work forever but it wouldn't have to. He just had to survive long enough for the old man to finish the ritual so he could seal the Kyuubi away and save the village.

Another great ball of fire was heading their way with nearly mind boggling speed, and several of the Kyuubi's tails were heading their way from multiple directions in rapid succession. Once again Minato was forced to use the Hiraishin no Jutsu to teleport out of the way and witness another part of the district go up in ashes and ruins respectively from the powerful attacks. Along with several of the ninja fighting who hadn't been able to get away in time.

He had almost missed the attack coming from behind when the Kyuubi focused on them once again. Apparently there was more than just an insane amount of brute force to the fox. As several of the raging infernos behind him caused by the previous brutal attacks suddenly packed together at a flick of a tail and formed a new attack from behind. The only warning he had before the attack struck was the rapidly increasing heat and the searing of the flames behind him. The fast flying burst of flames crashed roughly into the ground exploding on impact and leaving a small crater. Minato and Gamabunta only barely made it out of harm's way that time, even judging by their standards.

It seemed like the daemon lord was getting frustrated with its lack of success of hitting its first worthy foe in a while, as was obvious by the rapidly increasing speed of powerful attacks. He couldn't drag this out much longer if he wanted to have a village left by the time this battle was fought.

A majestic eagle circled around his head screeching two times. Minato sighed in relief. It was the agreed upon signal that the preparations were complete, and not a moment too soon. He had to act fast, after bonding Naruto with the foxes his chakra coils would finish adjusting within 5 minutes and he would have to complete the sealing before that happened. He needed a distraction to get those precious few seconds to pick up Naruto and form the jutsu. "Hmm why not… sometimes the simplest jutsu work best". He split second of distraction that the eagle had provided was all that the fearsome daemon he was battling needed however. As a large clawed paw raced in their direction, oddly enough for such a huge appendix it didn't make a single sound, belaying the grace and skill the eons old fox fought with.

Taken by surprise by the ferocious attack heading their way Minato froze up for a split second which would have been the end of the fight if the huge amphibian he was standing on hadn't jumped away at that precise moment. Nothing but the years of training he had went through enabled him to keep his feet attached to his partners head by the use of chakra when they left their previous position with a huge burst of speed and force. However not even the lighting quick reflexes his summon had displayed proved to be enough to completely avoid the deadly attack as became painfully obvious when a huge slash appeared across the frog lords' eye. Wincing in pain a startled cry escaped his mouth making Minato look down in concern for his friend.

"Gamabunta we're going to need a distraction, we'll create a clone on three and have it distract the Ninetails while I use Hiraishin no Jutsu to get us out of his immediate line of sight". He told his faithful summoned friend. Gamabunta gave a small nod to acknowledge the Fourth's plan, while a steady stream of blood streamed down from the wound over his eye, and started counting to three. **"One… Two… Three!"** Gamabunta shouted. The moment he finished counting Minato formed the needed seals for the jutsu to fast for even the trained eye to follow and performed them in such rapid succession that they disappeared nearly at the same time the bunshin was created. Allowing them to retreat back to gramps and Naruto unnoticed.

Everything had been said already when the elder man landed behind him with a crying Naruto in his arms. Kenamo had been as a father to him after his biological parents had died on a mission. And thus without saying another word he took his wailing son out of his arms and turned around to face the Kyuubi. The time had come. Taking one last look at his only son who would have to grow up with the huge burden of being the Kyuubi's jailor; he balanced Naruto on his lower arms so he would have his hands free and started the seals for the last jutsu he would ever use.

 **Shikifuujin!** _(Dead Daemon Imprisonment)_

The only thing the people and ninja of Konoha could see from their position on the ground was their Hokage wreathed in an extremely bright light. No one noticed the kid resting on his lower arms nor did they see the old man that stood behind him on the giant next thing the citizens of Konoha registered was a bright light which was impossible to look at. By the time they regained their sense of sight the Kyuubi had disappeared. The only evidence of the epic battle that had waged between the people of Konoha and the Kyuubi was the amount of destruction it had left behind, and the sound of a crying child being cradled in the arms of the deceased Yondaime.

* * *

A heavy storm was raging over Konoha that night. It was as if the elements themselves tried to rid the land of the remnants of the fight that had taken place only hours before, cleansing the soiled earth of death and destruction. Through these raging winds and heavy downpours, a single old man carrying an infant was fighting a battle of his own, just him against the elements as he made his way home.

Even though he couldn't see much most of the time, the flashes he got when the lightning lit up the sky would forever be etched into his mind. He was near the part where one of the Kyuubi's tails had wrecked the outer walls and parts of the village. Corpses of his fellow Shinobi who bravely stood up against the might of the demon lord were littered all around the area. Debris was everywhere and several houses were still aflame. The raging infernos that had been part of the Kyuubi's attacks had laid the entire district into ashes. The Uzumaki mansion wasn't far from here and he prayed it would still be there when he arrived.

He had nearly arrived at the place he called home when he heard the unmistakable whistling sound of a set of kunai flying to him at high speed. Jumping away he shifted Naruto to his back, attaching his carrier there with chakra while scanning around for his attacker. It only took a moment, because he'd recognise that chakra signature in a room of a million others. This particular missing Nin had been evading him for years. "With Naruto on my back it is to risky to take him on alone, I'll need help".

Thinking fast Kenamo quickly formed a couple of seals, bit his thumb and slammed his palm on the floor. A beautiful eagle flew out of the smoke and sat down on the old mans' shoulder. He took a red coloured scroll out of one of his scroll pockets and gave it to the bird.

Recognising the colour code of the scroll the missing Nin knew he had to intercept that bird in order to prevent it from calling in reinforcements. He quickly switched his attention to the bird, took out a kunai, and threw it with pinpoint precision. With a satisfied look he saw the majestic bird explode in a puff of smoke. After assuring himself the old man hadn't summoned any other birds with warning messages he turned his attention back to him.

"I have a proposal for you old man", Kenamo heard him say as he slowly turned around in a circle, tuning his senses to discover the direction his nemesis was in.

 _"Damn he is using some sort of genjutsu in order to hide his presence, to bad I suck at those. Bloody snake always was way to smart for his own good"._ Kenamo ranted in his mind, finding it impossible to pinpoint the exact hiding place of the sneaky bastard, he turned into the general direction he faintly sensed the presence coming from.

"You have five seconds to show yourself and tell me what you have to say before I start tearing apart whatever is left of this place until I flush you out." Noticing the balanced stance and the green tinted katana that had somehow appeared in the old man's hand, once again out of nowhere, he knew Kenamo was serious. He had seen that sword only once before, years ago when he was still a Genin loyal to Konoha. Like everyone else in the village he had heard of the seeming legendary proficiency that the Uzumaki clan had with swords, but the battle he had seen on that fateful day had been burned into his mind forever.

* * *

[Flashback]

One of the Seven swordsmen of the mist had somehow snuck into Konoha unnoticed and assassinated a young Uzumaki who had wandered off into the forest near the walls. He had tried to escape with the body so they would be able to unravel the secrets that were held in the child's blood. He was stopped rather abruptly by an enraged Uzumaki Kenamo who had seen it happen but had been too far away to prevent it. Sensing the huge chakra spike behind him, the mist Nin turned around with both of his hook swords drawn. Orochimaru hadn't been able to do anything but stare in awe at the beautiful yet brutal dance of death which had followed.

Enraged beyond reason by the gruesome scene he had witnessed Kenamo took out his katana for the first time in all the years Orochimaru had known him. Where the sword had come from had been a mystery to him. Even now he had no idea where the damn thing appeared from. The blade that was exposed was of masterful craftsmanship, glowing with an unearthly green colour, it gave off an incredibly powerful yet extraordinarily eerie aura. As his chakra spiked, fuelled by his rage, the winds Kenamo mastered picked up and his chakra started licking the blade causing the glow to intensify. Rushing to his opponent at high speed, Kenamo kicked up a flurry of dust and debris behind him. In less then a second the distance between the two Nins was covered and a flurry of blows exchanged.

Not prepared for the strength behind the strikes of the enraged Uzumaki, the surprised Mist Nin staggered back a bit while parrying the onslaught of strikes to the best of his ability all the while looking for an opening to counter attack. Yet even though he was using two swords against Kenamo's one, he wasn't able to do anything but dodge and parry, narrowly preventing himself from being cut to pieces by the sword. As Kenamo danced through his forms it rapidly became painfully obvious he was facing a master. Every attack flowed smoothly into the next, and he didn't leave a single opening large enough to exploit.

Finally though he saw a pause in the chain of attacks and used it to jump backwards in order to create some distance. Hooking the end of his left sword into the right one he swung the sharpened end below the handle of the attached sword towards Kenamo in order to slit his throat with his suddenly increased range.

Moving back as well Kenamo avoided the blade by a hair and gathered an enormous amount of chakra in his sword. The winds picked up around him to such an extent that it looked like he was standing in the middle of a raging typhoon. As sudden as it appeared however the typhoon had disappeared, seemingly absorbed by the sword which was now almost blinding to look at.

The shocked mistnin was frozen in awe by the beautiful but deadly scene that played out in front of him, the older man resembled nothing less then an enraged and avenging Archangel, his entire countenance lit up with righteous fury. A roiling wave of chakra trailed in the path of the sword as Kenamo used the pause for a devastating counter attack. In one last desperate attempt to prevent his untimely demise the mist nin reinforced his swords with nearly all the chakra he had left in order to block the oncoming attack. Crossing them in front of him he prepared to block with all the strength left in his weary body. Having finished the gathering of his chakra Kenamo shouted out the last words the mist Nin would ever hear.

 **"Fuuton: Kiruken!"** _(Wind type: Flying Blade)._

The powerful defence the mist Nin had thrown up had been to no avail. The moment Kenamo had released his attack the mist Nins' fate had been sealed, and he was dead before he had been able to register the fact that the jutsu cleaved straight trough both him and his swords. The attack hadn't ended with him though. This had been glaringly obvious from the carnage in the path of the attack, which had cut a twenty foot swath out of the forest behind him as well.

[End Flashback]

* * *

Sensing the now familiar chakra spike he associated with the old man, Orochimaru saw him preparing for the same powerful Jutsu he had used back then. Remembering the widespread damage the attack had caused he decided he didn't fancy being caught in its radius, and quickly complied with the old mans' demand to show himself.

Noticing Orochimaru getting out of his hiding place Kenamo held the attack he was about to release in his sword, whose glow was now lighting up the entire environment. Seeing as the blade didn't blind him this time however Orochimaru figured the attack wasn't charged as fully as it was the last time he saw it. Tearing his eyes off the entrancing sword he turned his attention to Kenamo while he rolled his suggestion around in his mind in order to phrase it in a way that wouldn't get him attacked instantly.

* * *

Sarutobi was staring out of the hole that used to be the window of the Hokage's conference room. He was standing in the debris of what was left of it, staring over the ruins of the village, contemplating the events of the day. He couldn't help but wonder if there was anything that he could have done differently, some motion he could have made to minimize the casualties.

His attention was drawn by a chakra spike that he quickly identified as Kenamo's. Wondering whether his old friend was handling his emotions in a bit of a different matter then he was himself, his eyes were drawn to an unearthly green tinted light on his left. Even though he had only seen it a few times before in his life, he recognized it immediately. Kenamo wouldn't use that jutsu to handle his emotions. It could only mean one thing. Kenamo was in trouble and needed help.

Fearing for the safety of his old friend and the Yondaime's son Naruto, he quickly sprung to action, his promise to Minato still fresh in his mind as he motioned for the nearby ANBU team to follow him and, without bothering to exit in a normal way; he jumped out of the window, or at least what was left of it. The ANBU team hot on his heals travelling in the direction of the light. A dog masked ANBU who couldn't be much over fourteen years old caught up with him soon after. "Sarutobi-sama, what are your orders?"

"Stay hidden and provide cover when needed, after the issue is resolved, follow Uzumaki-san and protect him and the child with your lives. It will be a long term A-rank mission until the village has recovered from the Kyuubi's attack." Below the mask the dog masked Nin arched an eyebrow, wondering why one of the most powerful ninja's of the village would need an ANBU squad for protection. He had all the information he needed though so he fell back with his squad and quickly informed them of their orders.

* * *

"Spit it out before I change my mind Orochimaru!". Kenamo spat venomously.

A bit surprised at the uncharacteristic display of hostility coming from the usually flippant and apparently crazy old man he used to know, he decided not to test the old man's patience. He knew that even with the kid on his back giving him a huge disadvantage in a fight, Uzumaki Kenamo wasn't a foe he could dispose of quickly or easily. Sarutobi and the ANBU would be there for reinforcement long before he would be able to kill the old man and get away with the damn brat. Even now his time was running short since the eerie otherworldly light the sword was giving off was sure to alert them. "So much for preventing fast reinforcements", Orochimaru grumbled in his mind.

"I propose you give me the kid and…" He was forced to jump away with all the speed he could muster in order to avoid the attack. Even so he lost more than then just a few hairs. "

"I have heard enough, there isn't a snowballs chance in hell I'll give him to you!"

Orochimaru reached out with his senses while he was dodging Kenamo's attacks in order to gauge how much time he had left, and ended up cursing as he sensed Sarutobi and the ANBU less then a minute away.

"I can revive another in his place!"

Kenamo paused briefly and Orochimaru took this opportunity as the time to press his case.

"Think about it Uzumaki-sama" Orochimaru continued smoothly. "For the price of just that one little demon brat over there I can raise your entire family from death".

For a moment it looked like Kenamo would take the bait and would hand the brat over. Just as Orochimaru started to move in Kenamo's direction to take the kid of his hands, the old man started laughing maniacally. Surprised at the sudden mood change the missing Nin halted his approach and waited impatiently for the response he was sure would follow. He wasn't disappointed.

"What do you take me for? Some senile old fool?" Kenamo said a few seconds later after his laughter died down. "Why for the love of everything that's holy would I want to keep a family of living death?" The old man seemed genuinely perplexed as if he couldn't even fathom why anyone would want to do something like that.

Seeing as he didn't have the time left to convince the old man of a deal, Orochimaru did what every self respecting missing Nin in his position would do. He threw a set of shuriken as a distraction, forcing Kenamo to dodge swiftly, and started a set of hand seals faster then the eye could follow. Before Kenamo had a chance to react Orochimaru shouted his technique **Biransei no Jutsu** _(Poison Gas Technique)._

Filling his lungs with air Orochimaru manipulated the chakra to create a huge amount of poisoned gas in his mouth and exhaled sharply. Only to use the distraction to disappear into the night, leaving one last threat in the air: "I will get the brat eventually old man..."

Mere moments after the snake Sannin disappeared, Sarutobi arrived at the scene. The ANBU squad staying hidden as they where ordered to. Just when Sarutobi was about to use a jutsu to get rid of the poison gas he heard the unmistaken voice of his old friend.

 **Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu** _(Flame Type: Dragon Fire Technique)_

Realizing with a shock what Kenamo was doing Sarutobi created as much distance as possible between him and the poison cloud in the little amount of time he had. The ANBU squad realizing the same were right on his heels. A moment later he heard the unmistakable sound of a huge explosion that rocked the city behind him. And he got nearly lifted off his feet by the resulting shockwave. Shaking his head at his friends' impulsive behaviour he made his way back to the crater that used to be a part of the town. He was sure that whoever had been suicidal enough to attack Kenamo would have made his escape by now. Assuming the assailant survived of course.

When Sarutobi arrived back at the part of the town gone crater he sweatdropped at the amount of destruction the blast had caused. Everything in a five hundred yard radius had been completely wiped off the face of the earth. In the middle of all the chaos and diminishing smoke and dirt he saw the old man holding Naruto looking a bit ruffled up from the skirmish and explosion a moment ago. Fortunately it didn't look like he or Naruto received a serious injury during the fight.

"Kenamo are you two alright? What happened?" Sarutobi asked worriedly.

After a few seconds a rather worn out Kenamo told his old friend what had transpired only moments before. Only to run off without even bothering to check on how he reacted to the news that his old student and the strongest missing nin from Konoha, had been spotted in the ruined parts of the village. Apparently he was after either Naruto or his tenant.

At that moment the place Kenamo called home for all those years had a higher priority on his list than the events from before. And thus before anyone had a chance to keep him occupied any longer he hurried off in order to try and save his house from destruction. Staying hidden to the best of their abilities the shaken up ANBU squad followed him every step of the way.

He barely made it in time. The shed containing most of the families' weapon collection was ablaze and the flames were licking on the east side of the mansion, he would have to act fast. Shifting Naruto back on his back again he started forming a long set of seals. **"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu** _(Water Type: Great Waterfall Technique),"_ he bellowed. The rain around him being manipulated by his chakra rapidly formed into a huge mass of water. The resulting tidal wave washed over the house and ripped through the already weakened shed.

"Hmm, guess I overdid it a little…" He had used a bit more chakra then was necessary for the Jutsu to extinguish the fire. Sure the fire was gone, unfortunately so was the shed and everything behind it. The house which only took a glancing hit had luckily been able to withstand the onslaught of the powerful water elemental technique.

Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, he shifted Naruto back into a more comfortable position. Using his free hand he motioned to one of the ANBU who had been following him since his encounter with Orochimaru.

Masking his surprise at being discovered the dog-masked Nin jumped down from his hiding place and joined Kenamo. He saw the old man making a sweeping motion and pointing at the house. Nodding to acknowledge the order he received from his superior, Kakashi turned around to his team and repeated the order to sweep the area.

The team moved out surrounding the place while staying hidden to the best of their ability. Considering this was an elite team even among the ANBU the best of their ability meant that it was nearly impossible to tell where they were, even for Kenamo. Kakashi signalled the lioness-masked squad member and ordered her to join him in sweeping the house, while the others covered the exits from the outside, her lion companion stalked over to Kenamo and Naruto in order to guard them while his mistress swept the house.

Carefully Kakashi and Youko entered the premises through a window on the second floor. The two highly trained ANBU moved without making a sound. Looking around Kakashi halted in surprise by the sight that met them. The room they had entered was completely ransacked. Clothes, scrolls, weapons and personal possessions were scattered throughout the chamber. Judging by the open drawers which looked like they had been sifted through in a hurry, it seemed safe to presume someone had broken in a short while ago in order to look for something. Whether or not anything was missing would have to be sought out by the old man.

Using ANBU sign language, Kakashi quickly coded his observations to his partner. _"Careful it looks like someone has broken in here recently, the burglar could still be here."_ His attention turned to his lioness masked teammate. She was fidgeting a bit and shifted her weight embarrassedly. _"Uhm, actually this is the way I left my room. I was in a bit of a hurry when we had to leave on our last mission… I… overslept."_ She responded.

Kakashi sweatdropped, but he chose not to comment on it for the time being. He made a quick hand sign while carefully leaving the room through the open door signalling that both of them would look in a different direction. Kakashi headed for the entrance while Youko stealthily moved over through the rear of the mansion she knew like the back of her hand. Swiftly she cleared the house. Perhaps it was simply because she knew the place so well. It had made her somewhat careless, but at the moment she heard the unmistakable clicking of an activating trap mechanism she knew her fate had been sealed.

"They should be nearly done by now". Kenamo softly told the little tyke in his arms. He was known for many things but patience wasn't among it. Lack of it was more likely to be mentioned when you asked anyone who knew him. And thus he did what everyone else in his shoes would have done. Without waiting for the ANBU to report the situation in his home he crossed the remaining distance between himself and the door. His nieces' lion followed him every step of the way.

With some trepidation Kenamo slowly entered the mansion he had been living in for all these years with the Uzumaki clan, his family. Now Naruto, the crying infant he cradled in his arms, he, and the female ANBU who was currently sweeping the mansion were the only members of his family whom survived the tragic day.

It didn't feel right though. It was a beautiful place filled with a lot of happy memories of his past. However somehow it felt empty and hollow without his family's bristling of life that he was so used to hearing upon entering. The mansion he had called home for all these years suddenly didn't feel all that welcoming a sigh he dropped his backpack on the floor and he heard a sudden undignified yelp coming out of it. Little Naruto stopped crying immediately when he heard it, looking around with interest as if he was trying to determine where the strange sound had come from. Deciding to check it out gramps put Naruto down.

Carefully opening his backpack so he could see what had caused the noise, he suddenly pulled back in a reflex as he saw something jumping out of it at high speed. Feeling something bite down on him for the second time that day, Kenamo looked at his arm. For some reason he wasn't surprised to see a little fox cub attached to he made some rather rude assumptions about the little foxes parents, while making sure to keep his voice down. Naruto's wailing had given him a hell of a headache. And he didn't fancy that brat starting to cry again just because he did some original swearing.

Putting some pressure with one of his fingers against the little fox's jaw joint he was able to detach her from his arm without causing more damage. Without thinking about it any further he put her down beside him and rummaged through his backpack for his first aid kit so he could take care of the wound.

" **Grrrr** ", she was growling menacingly behind him. Quickly Kenamo turned around to make sure Naruto would be alright. The scene he saw wasn't what he had expected though, instead of seeing Naruto tugging on an interestingly moving tail as he imagined; he saw the little vixen standing protectively in front of the kid with all her hairs on end, growling at an appearing shadow. His nieces companion was standing protectively over them. Without a doubt the fearsome beast had been put on edge by the menacing growl the little vixen was producing.

Suddenly all of Kenamo's senses went on edge, and a kunai appeared in his hand in the blink of an eye. A katana just wasn't very practical in close quarters. "Show yourself!" he demanded of the approaching shadow.

Chuckling a bit while his hands rose over his head Kakashi appeared around the corner. "No worries old man I won't hurt you". He replied cheekily. Both Kenamo and the lion relaxed when they recognized the familiar voice of one of Minato's students. Kenamo put down his kunai only to be blown backwards by a huge explosion that obliterated the majority of the mansion.

* * *

Authors' note:

I hope you enjoyed the prologue, I realize it was a bit dark and I hope I have been able to convey the scenes the way they played out in my mind.

Was I able to convey the characters' emotions, or did they get lost in translation somewhere between my mind and the story? Maybe some tips for the fighting scenes? For some reason I just can't seem to portray them the way I want. Either way please let me know what you think. Any tips or even just a small comment that you enjoyed the chapter will help feed the muse.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the team

**Chapter 2**

 **Meeting the team**

* * *

"Tap, tap, tap". Groggily a young woman in her early twenties turned around, trying to stay asleep in spite of the annoying tapping against her window. "Tap, tap, tap". Not really registering what it meant, she did what she always did when something disturbed her rest too early. She took the first object she could get her hands on, which happened to be her latest alarm clock, and threw it in the general direction of the noise.

The familiar sound of a breaking window reached her ears a few seconds before the cold morning air did. Shivering from the freezing morning breeze, she quickly dove beneath the blankets in order to escape the cold and get some more sleep. Content with the results for now she turned around fully intending to continue the rest she started only a few hours ago.

Someone else didn't seem to keen on letting her sleep however. The life form that had been tapping her window had returned after being so rudely disturbed in her work. Deciding harsher methods were needed she entered the room, clutched the blanket between her talons and flew off with it through the window, dropping a small note in the process.

Shivering from the morning cold that suddenly attacked her entire body she woke up completely in an instant. Disgruntled because her sleep got interrupted anyway she quickly scanned the room with a menacing look. Looking for the perpetrator like a hunter lurking after its prey. Someone was going to suffer for her rude awakening!

An assignment scroll fell from her bed and she was barely able to see the fast retreating form of a very familiar eagle, still clutching her blankets in its talons. It was about the only creature that always seemed to manage to wake her up without getting injured, and right now that irked her unlike anything else.

"Damn you Akari! Get back here with my blankets so I can kill you for waking me up!" She shouted in frustration at the overgrown bird while she was hanging half out of the remains of her window shaking her fist at it.

She would have properly chased the damn bird down to retrieve her covers and get back to bed if it hadn't gotten distracted by the sound of something crashing into a wall on the street below her. Looking down she saw a lot of blood and a man who seemed to have passed out from a major nosebleed.

Checking herself over she noticed she was still in her night clothing which consisted of nothing more than her light mesh bodysuit, which looked very similar to a fishnet shirt; and the necklace she never took off. She had to admit that since the mesh hugged her body at every curve and was partly see-through it left very little to the imagination.

Looking around she picked up one of her old training weights and threw it at the pervert for good measure. With satisfaction she heard a sickening crunch of bones breaking when the weights hit their target death center. It served him right for peeking on her, even though it was mainly her fault for hanging out of the window dressed like that. Deciding that little detail wasn't important she turned around to get dressed for the day, making a mental note to send a message to the maintenance guy for another new window. It wouldn't surprise her if she was keeping his business going singlehandedly by now.

She moved over to the chair she left her standard ANBU outfit on before turning in, and put them on. After fastening her forehead protector, hiding her assortment of ninja weapons in her clothes and strapping her ninjato to her back she reached for her mask. It had the shape of the head of a wolf with a dark blue swirl on the bottom ending just below the nose.

Having finished her morning routine her eyes fell on the scroll that damn bird had woken her for. "O well might as well see what it says since I'm awake now anyway". She reasoned. Carefully scanning the scroll for traps with a few scanning Jutsu she deemed it safe and carefully opened the wax seal. Unrolling the scroll she read the single sentence it contained.

 _'Be present at the meeting of 5.30 AM in the usual place concerning a future assignment._

 _Eagle_

Glancing at the clock she saw she only had 10 minutes left to make it to the meeting. " **DAMMIT!** I'll get you for this old man!" She screamed in frustration. "He could have told me yesterday but no! He had to send that overgrown canary of his to wake me up in the middle of night like always." She complained to no one in particular. She was sure he just loved to irk her like this and she would make sure she'd make him pay for it one day, consequences be dammed.

With one last glance at the clock (in the kitchen since the ones in her bedroom never seemed to survive long for some reason) she grabbed her beige trench coat and jumped out of the window. Leaving for the meeting place at top speed, accelerated by her frustration of being woken at such an ungodly hour.

* * *

About ten minutes ago she had arrived at the usual meeting place fully intending to give the old man a piece of her mind only to find it completely deserted. So obviously she did the next best thing. She turned around and went over to the old man's house to shout at him there.

With a brisk pace she walked through the garden over to the door of the Uzumaki's property. **"KENAMO! Open this damn door right now!"** She shouted while banging on the door as loudly as possible. She kept on knocking until the door opened revealing the groggy face of the old man. His normally well tended long white hair standing on all ends. Obviously he had still been asleep when she arrived and that infuriated her even more.

Before he had any chance to react or say anything to her he felt a kunai pressing into the skin of his throat and she started her verbal assault. "What the hell were you thinking, having that overgrown canary of yours waking me up in the middle of the night, only to send me to a meeting that didn't exist! Is this your idea of a joke!?" The kunai she was holding against him pressed deeper into his skin with every point she made, and was starting to draw a bit of blood by now.

The only indication she got of Kenamo having heard anything she yelled in his face or noticing the kunai poised at his throat for that matter was the extremely confused look he was giving her. Taking a deep breath to calm her demeanor she retracted her kunai licking of the blood in the process with a maniacal gleam in her eyes, only to replace it with the scroll his bird had left her and thrust it none to gently in his face.

Picking himself up from the floor he quickly read over the note, a look of realization slowly dawning on the old man's face. "Sorry about that Anko that note was supposed to be for Kakashi, go back to sleep". He replied. Without giving her any chance to reply he shut the door in her face and went back to sleep.

Annoyed at his rude behavior, Anko tried the door fully intending on following him, only to be shocked by the handle. _"So that dirty old man thinks he can wake me up at this time of the day and get away with it eh? Well, we'll see about that!"_ She thought sadistically. Stealthily Anko made her way through the huge garden, moving around with the grace of a cat. She left no sign of her presence nor made any sound to give any indication of her whereabouts.

Suddenly she froze; her foot poised only a few scant inches above the ground while she listened intently at the steadily growing alarm. " _SHIT_ ", she thought, "I should have realized that old bear would have an intruder alert".

After a few seconds of nothing coming at her she relaxed and tried to trace the sound to its origin. Only to create a Kawarimi no Jutsu _(replacement technique)_ out of reflex when a loud ringing object came flying straight at her at high speeds. A deafening crash was heard when the object hit and effectively splintered the log she had used for the replacement on impact, the ringing stopping nearly immediately afterwards.

Looking down at the deadly object from her position in the trees she realized that the "life threatening" situation she had escaped by a hair, had been nothing else then a ringing alarm clock that had been flung out of one of the houses opened windows at high speed. Not being the kind of person to let a blow to her pride like that go unanswered, even if it happened unintentionally, she made her way over to the open window. Using chakra to stick to the wall she quietly made her way up to the second floor.

Listening intently she tried to gauge if it would be safe to check through the window without being discovered. As she didn't hear a sound after a few moments, she took the chance and moved the last bit required to see into the room; only to stare straight in the brightest half opened blue eyes she'd ever seen, belonging to none other than an apparently half awake Uzumaki Naruto.

Surprised as she was by looking straight in the eyes of the kid she hadn't even been able to sense when there was less then three feet between them, Anko was involuntary impressed. Even she would have never thought that the loudest person in the entire village possessed such an incredible amount of natural stealth. Reflecting on the little she knew about the kid though she grudgingly had to admit to herself that she shouldn't have been. After all, pulling pranks on high level ninja's like he had on occasion required a high skill level of stealth. Just like everyone else in the village she had apparently been fooled by his loud façade and underestimated his abilities.

Focusing her thoughts back on the kid she realized he was still staring at her with that blank faraway expression he had worn earlier. Most of the respect he had just earned from her plummeted back down the drain. She noticed he was literally standing there still half asleep, seemed like he hadn't even noticed she was there. Deciding to test her theory she snapped her fingers right next to his left ear as loud as she could.

The effect was immediately noticeable when he jumped back picking something up in mid jump and dropped in a basic defensive stance, his arms positioned like he was holding a sword. Only to realize a moment later that the "sword" he was holding was still lying next to his bed.

Sparing a confused glance at the arm he had raised above his head, poised so that the sword should have been pointing in the direction of his enemy perfectly aligned to the floor. His eyes met with the fiery look of a very offended little vixen which seemed to be in an extremely bad mood by being woken in such a rude matter. If the glare she was giving him hadn't been a dead giveaway then the fangs snapping only millimeters from his ears certainly were.

Wiping away the huge sweat drop that had appeared on the back of her head she decided to climb the rest of the way in the room and sit down on the windowsill. Turning her attention back to Naruto she couldn't help but bursting out laughing as she saw the kid desperately apologizing to the highly insulted fox.

Hearing her laugh, the attention of Naruto and his fox were drawn from their current conflict to her, noticing their questioning looks Anko was forced to think fast. She didn't want the old man to know she had ventured inside his house without permission. So she used the first obvious solution that came to her mind, she removed her mask and said: "Ne, Naruto want to help me prank the old man?"

Immediately she saw his eyes light up in delight with the prospect of helping an ANBU out pranking his gramps. "I'll treat you to ramen if you manage to pull it off". She continued almost as an afterthought. The look on his face told her all she needed to know. _"Hehe got him; let's see what this kid can do!"_

"Of course I'll help you Nee-chan", Naruto replied bouncing with excitement at the prospect of free ramen. He could practically taste the flavor of his favorite kinds already when a stray thought forced its way through his ramen indulged mind. Anko raised an eyebrow at his familiar form of address but decided to let it slide for now. She was not supposed to be there and she was sure Kenamo would let her pay for it if he ever found out. He was her superior after all. She still shuddered at the memory of what happened last time he found out she had taken revenge on him for another one of his mistakes. She'd been stuck doing D-rank missions for a month. If she ever had to catch that bloody cat again…

Glancing back at Naruto she noticed that he had stopped his dance of joy and a thoughtful look had appeared on his face. Catching her looking at him he decided he might as well voice the thought that kept nagging him in the back of his mind. At least he'd have some peace and quiet in his head again. "Why?"

Anko told him what had happened. "So I want to take revenge on him for sending me Kakashi's message and having that bloody bird of his waking me up at that ungodly hour! Which reminds me he still has my blanket!" She concluded rather loud.

"Well he has this thing with snakes." Naruto replied thoughtfully, grateful that the little voice in his head had stopped nagging him.

"He does! So there is something good about that old pervert after all!" Anko replied surprised. "He sure fooled me; he never did appear to like them much when we were on a mission".

"Huh"? Naruto replied intelligently as he was thoroughly confused by then. "Gramps likes snakes? Ha, not in this lifetime, he's scared to death of 'em!"

"What! How can he be afraid of snakes? Just look at them." She replied pulling a young black mamba from her left sleeve. "Just look how beautiful she is, those wonderful dark-grey scales reflecting the sunlight, the muscular but lean body allowing it to reach up to 13 miles an hour and the pitch-black color on the inside of her mouth bringing out those lovely fangs dripping with their deadly poison. She continued while she expertly opened the snakes' mouth without giving it a chance to bite her in order to show Naruto what she was talking about.

Naruto however was slowly backing off getting thoroughly freaked out from the strange woman who was lovingly stroking the highly dangerous snake while she admired its fangs.

"Did you know that a single shot of their neurotoxin can paralyze a full grown man within minutes, completely killing him soon after when it reaches the hart, unless he gets treated with an antidote before that happens?" She continued apparently completely oblivious to Naruto's discomfort with the deadly creature in his room.

An undignified yelp coming from a highly offended and slightly edgy fox brought her out of her rant about the beauty of snakes, only to see Naruto pressed against the far end of the wall on the other side of the room. Trying to hide himself behind the little vixen he was holding as some sort of shield in front of him. The red furry creature wasn't pleased by that arrangement as she made painfully obvious by biting down on one of Naruto's hands as hard as she could.

 **"OUCH! Dammit Akane let go!"** Naruto screamed out in pain while losing his grip on her. Apparently satisfied with her revenge and re-found freedom she did exactly that and settled down next to him. Sporting what looked most like a smug expression on her face. Deciding to ignore the scene in front of her when she noticed the wound on his hand healing rapidly, she let her pet go which immediately crawled back into its cosy warm spot in her sleeve so she could get back to sleep. "So the old man is afraid of snakes?" She continued as if nothing strange had happened before. "How about we…"

* * *

"I raise with 5 ramen coupons." Kenamo declared after rechecking his cards. He smiled in his mind's eye while keeping his features perfectly schooled, masking his glee at his good fortune. He had a Royal Flush so there was no way he could lose this game. He couldn't raise the stakes by too much however or else the others would know he had a good hand. They had been playing poker for years together and knew each other's play styles like the back of their hands. He always had the habit to bet a lot when he was dealt a good hand and they all knew it, so this time he did everything he could to resist the urge. The stakes would rise on their own good time if he played his hand carefully.

Discretely he looked around the table at his opponents, he was able to read Sarutobi like a book and he could clearly see the frustration in the old man's eyes. Kakashi and Hiashi were a different case altogether though; both of them had learned to school their features perfectly years ago. And just like every other time he had tried he was unable to get any indication of the cards they held. For once it didn't matter though, he would win this one for sure and the stakes kept rising. Sarutobi had called out at the first raise, knowing his cards wouldn't be able to bring him any luck this round. Kakashi and Hiashi however kept going strong, either bluffing very convincingly or holding good hands as well.

Eventually though the time to show the cards had arrived and he allowed his smile to break through on his face knowing he had just won a weeks' worth of free ramen. As his friends saw the huge smile on his face they knew they had lost since obviously both of them had been bluffing enormously. Hiashi was holding a pair of two's and Kakashi wasn't even holding that much. For a short moment he was allowed to be aware of an event only few were privileged to see in a lifetime and even fewer were left to tell the tale about. He could clearly read the frustration in the eyes of the Hyuuga clanhead that had just lost a fortune worth of ramen.

At the moment he slammed his cards down on the table however the whole scenery changed. His garden where they had been sitting in suddenly turned into a dark swamp and he could clearly hear the unmistakable sound of those terrible creatures closing in on them. Looking around trying to determine where the sounds originated from his eyes fell on his friends, as they were suddenly pulled down into the swamp so fast that all he was able to distinguish was the smooth slimy and scaled body of a huge snake that was devouring his friends.

He moved as fast as he could in order to attempt to save them before they were severely injured despite of his fear for these horrible creatures. His sword was summoned by his side in an instance, but before he could take any action to save his companions he felt the sensation of a slithering body wrapping itself around his legs, crawling up at an agonizing pace while he was paralysed with fear.

Fighting off his initial reaction by biting down hard on his tongue he broke free of the fear induced paralysis and started trashing around, struggling to break free so he could take care of this monstrous creature and hopefully save his friends in the process. Suddenly the scenery disappeared as he became aware of a falling sensation only moments before he crashed down on the floor next to his bed. His fateful sword kept steady in his right hand.

Looking around he noticed he was in his bedroom. "Sigh that dream again…" It had been hunting him for ages ever since that event in a past he had tried to leave behind. Deciding he might as well get up since he was awake anyway he started to get up. Only to realize his legs were still tightly bound together. Almost afraid of what he might see he slowly turned his head to look down.

His heart skipped a beat and shot up to his throat when he saw a very real looking snake was still curled around his legs looking straight at him and hissing ominously.

Faster than the eye could follow his sword had left its scabbard and with one perfectly executed horizontal strike the terrible creature was decapitated, effectively breaking the illusion. As the ropes that had been manipulated to look and act like snakes fell of his legs down on the floor.

Wide awake by the recent events his mind took little to no time to figure out what had happened, the unmistakable laughter of Naruto from his room across the hall, being a dead giveaway. He knew one sure way to get back at the kid though and effectively stopping the laughter at the same time.

 **"NARUTO! Get your arse in the courtyard right now! And bring your sword! We have some 'training' to do."** He bellowed across the hall, putting an emphasis on the word 'training'. He smirked with satisfaction as the laughter died down immediately. Normally the kid loved training but he knew after pulling a stunt like that, that bringing his sword for training wasn't something to look forward to.

Looking back at the brilliant prank the kid had played on him, he noticed something that he hadn't realized before. There was something very peculiar about the Genjutsu that made him believe the ropes were in fact snakes. The skill itself really wasn't what made it strange. After all the illusion had been perfectly executed. However that was exactly the problem, t he kid simply sucked royally in the entire Genjutsu field. He just couldn't have pulled one off if his life depended on it; someone had to have helped him out...

Absentmindedly he softly traced his fingers over his throat, abruptly seizing the motion when he felt his hand crossing a streak of dried op blood. Suddenly a huge smirk lit up his face as he remembered the scene of an angry Anko banging on his door demanding an explanation for the note his companion had taken to the wrong ninja. Reflecting on it he realized the prank had her name all over it. It was just like her to pull a stunt like that. Apparently forcing her to catch that damn cat over and over for a month hadn't taught her not to mess with him again like he intended it to do. The 'fearsome beast' actually seemed to have taken a liking to him after all the times he had helped her escape.

This time he would take drastic measures. Hearing Naruto grumbling to himself while he made his way downstairs for his 'training' session Kenamo formed a seal creating a single Kage Bunshin. He quickly passed the orders to the solid clone he had just created. It would have to give the kid his training instead. He had some arrangements to take care of, and he didn't have much time left to do it in.

* * *

" **Oi Sarutobi!** Listen up; we have a bit of a problem with the new Genin teams." Kenamo stated while he barged into the Hokage's office unannounced. The Chuunin on guard duty was standing slightly disheveled behind him looking at the Hokage with a sheepish apologetic smile.

Knowing that his old friend couldn't care less about proper etiquette or who was standing in his way when he was worked up about something, Sarutobi waved the Chuunin off and signaled for him to close the door behind him.

Relief obvious on his face the newly instated Chuunin hurried to follow his leaders' orders, closing the double oaken doors with a resounding thud, and taking up his former guarding position again. Pulling up his resolve as he promised himself he would do what he could to prevent a similar situation from ever occurring again.

"What has gotten you so worked up Kenamo? You mentioned something about there being a problem with the new Genin teams?" The Hokage said addressing his friend while raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah well you see it's like this. Akari here," he said pointing at the magnificent eagle that was currently residing on his shoulder "made a little mistake with one of the messages for the new Jounin instructors. The one that I sent three hours early that was supposed to go to Kakashi so he might actually arrive somewhat on time for once, ended up going to Anko instead. Needless to say she wasn't very thrilled about it."

Sarutobi winced at the mental image that appeared when his old friend told him exactly what had happened with Anko this morning, ending his story with the prank that had been played on him by the two of them.

"Well I agree that a bit of payback is in order. But how is this story related to the Genin teams?" The third asked slightly confused.

"Well that's obvious isn't it?" Kenamo replied wondering how on earth Sarutobi was able to overlook the problem. "The meeting is in about fifteen to twenty minutes and Kakashi didn't get a note yet."

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the room as the Sandaime slammed his head onto his desk with a bit more force than the poor piece of furniture could handle, indicating that the third was fully aware of the problem now. There was no way that Kakashi would arrive even nearly on time to get his team assigned to him.

The doors to the office suddenly slammed open. Revealing several ANBU and the Chuunin guard streaming in the office in order to check out what had caused the disturbance, and ready to defend their Hokage with their lives would the need arise. It wouldn't have been the first time one of the other villages attempted to assassinate their leader. Not that assassinating a Hokage was an easy feat mind you, only the strongest ninja's of the village could be elected by the council to rise to the position. With Kenamo already in the office, one of the few ninja in the village that could challenge their Hokage to a duel and stand a good chance of winning; the guarding squad seriously doubted they were needed even if there was an attempted assassination. The last time that happened with both of them in the office the battle had been even over before they could intervene. The poor Chuunin started sweating profusely when he noticed a katana barely gracing the skin of his throat and the blue orb of whirling chakra only barely separated from the mask of one of the elite ninja's that came in with him.

Identifying the ninja that had come in the office as their own, Kenamo flicked his sword which disappeared to Kami knows where and let the ball of chakra dissipate harmlessly. Breathing easier with the extremely sharp weapon removed from his throat he turned his attention to Kenamo as he realized he was being addressed.

"Find Mitarashi Anko and tell her to come here in twenty minutes."

Rapidly paling as the orders he had just received processed in his mind, the Chuunin acknowledged the command and left in a puff of smoke. It just wasn't his day. He had been flung aside, held at sword point and been ordered to find one of the craziest ninja in the village and it wasn't even eight AM yet. Paling even further as he remembered the tales of her legendary morning temper as told by his fellow Chuunin, he swallowed heavily and hurried on to finish his mission. At the very least he would have some interesting tales to tell his friends tonight, well assuming he would be able to that is...

Raising an eyebrow at his friend, Sarutobi ordered one of his ANBU to get him a new desk and dismissed the rest. "You want to give Kakashi's team to Anko?" He asked incredulously. "I mean, I'm sure Naruto will have no problems with her, and Sakura... well will either thrive or quit on her first day due to mental trauma... but I really don't think it is a good idea to let her teach the Uchiha. The boys mind is fragile enough after what happened to him even without her influence." He continued in a tone that clearly stated he thought Kenamo had finally lost the last of his marbles while shuddering at the mental images his mind was creating with the possibilities.

"Hell no! Has all that paperwork finally driven you around the bend?! Those two together in one team is just asking for a disaster and I don't even want to think about the effect that would have on the Uchiha's personality. We'd probably have a whole new Uchiha massacre on our hands in no time if we stuck those two together. No we need to give her Genin that can handle her... unique personality. Besides since you seem to have forgotten, Naruto was supposed to be teamed up with Hiashi's daughter, Hinata."

"You mean that wasn't off the table? Didn't you tell me years ago that the Hyuuga kinjutsu Hiashi mentioned failed to work because of the Kyuubi's seal?"

"Wait.. are you saying I forgot to tell you? Whoops, I could've sworn I did..." Kenamo responded, rubbing his chin in thought. "Anyway remember about seven years ago when Naruto got a severe head injury at the Hyuuga clan and lost most of his memory up to that day?"

Sarutobi nodded in response, the horrible day still vivid in his mind. If it hadn't been for the restorative powers of the Uzumaki bloodline Naruto probably wouldn't have escaped with nothing but memory loss.

"Turns out that little Hinata did more then awaken her Byakugan that day. Hiashi told me later that she woke him up in the middle of the night demanding to go see Naruto because he needed her. She was convinced he woke up scared and alone. At the time he didn't take her seriously and put her back to bed, but after some checking with the staff we discovered she had been right. So while not working as expected we can't say it failed completely. As far as I can tell from studying the seals there is a chance it'll fix itself eventually."

"Hmm I see, that could turn out to be useful. I assume you have a suggestion for the teams then?" The third asked him with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Having known his friend as long as he did he was pretty certain that it was no accident that Kakashi's message had ended up with Anko instead. Sure enough in response Kenamo took out a note with his suggestion for the teams for Sarutobi to read. "Hmm, yes I see. You went for allround teams instead of specialist. Ah well, why not, it should work and we would be able to assign them a wider range of missions to them. We can just order Kakashi to tutor the Uchiha in his free hours if the kid awakens his Sharingan."

His personal assigned mission completed Kenamo left the Sandaime on his own, who was busy talking to himself going over all of the pros and cons.

* * *

A soft gasp escaped the lips of a lavender eyed girl, shocked at the bloody appearance of her most precious friend. The friend she had admired for years. The friend who since that horrible day seven years ago, didn't even remember her... Seeing him stumbling into the classroom, clothes cut to ribbons and covered in blood brought the memory right back to the forefront of her mind...

 _[Flashback, seven years ago.]_

 **"Catch me if you can!"** Little Naruto hollered over his shoulder, as an excitedly yipping Akane and laughing Hinata chased after him. Running as fast as they could in a game of tag through the vast Hyuuga grounds straight into the large clan compound. Neither of them remembering they weren't allowed to run inside. Naturally it didn't take long for the reason for that rule to become painfully apparent as Naruto bulldozed straight into one of the elders of the clan.

"Oops, sorry Jijii. Didn't mean to run into ya." Naruto apologized sheepishly as he offered the old man his hand to help him up. He was shocked though when instead of accepting his apology the old man glared at him and harshly slapped his hand away. Tears coming to his eyes as his hand immediately flared up in pain and refused to respond to his wishes.

Sensing her companions distress at his paralyzed hand, Akane did what every good fox would do in such a situation. She attacked the offender in defense of her friend. Unfortunately for her though she wasn't dealing with your average old man, but a retired ninja. A ninja who had been powerful enough to actually survive long enough to retire.

Showing exactly how he managed to do so for so long he struck her in the middle of her leap with a Jyuuken powered strike. Causing her to yelp in agony and smash into the wall. She didn't get up after hitting the floor.

 **"You bastard! Leave Akane alone!"** Naruto yelled. His distress quickly replaced by fury, traces of a frightening chakra starting to leak from his form as his anger increased. His muscles tensed in preparation to attack the old man that hurt his little fox.

Instantly recognizing the feel of the tainted chakra as that belonging to the giant demon fox that killed so many of his loved ones five years ago. The elder lost all traces of reason.

 **"Be silent you insolent demon whelp! I don't care what Hiashi says, I'll do the world a favor and kill you right here!"** He screamed. A frighteningly mad look in his eyes as he quickly got up and proceeded to attack young Naruto. Not even using the clans' gentle fist style but brutaly beating the defenseless five year old, inflicting as much damage as he could. He knew he had to be quick. There was no doubt in his mind that Hiashi would hear the commotion and investigate. As it was, he could already hear the door to his clan leaders office slam open.

He prepared to quickly deliver the finishing blow, consequences be dammed. No matter what happened to him, at least he would have the comfort of having avenged his wife and the many other victims of the demons' attack. Fortunately for Naruto though he never got the chance to end it. As his whole body stiffened by a murderous killing intent coming from shy little Hinata-chan of all people.

Wild chakra flaring around her little form, veins pulsing around her eyes. Eyes that to his shock weren't the lovely lavender he was used to but flaring with her newly awakened Byakugan. Sweet and shy little Hinata who until that moment he had considered to weak to be the heir to their prestigious clan, held him frozen with killing intent. His mind unable to reconcile the sweet little girl he knew, with frightening child that held him rooted to the spot. He watched in growing horror as she instinctively slipped into the stance for one of the clan's most devastating techniques. A skill she had no way of knowing, but somehow seemed to prepare for anyway.

 **"Don't your dare hurt my Naruto-kun!"** She snarled at him. He all but felt her Byakugan scanning his chakra system, instinctively looking for the best place to strike. Followed by the most frightening proclamation he ever heard from a five year old girl in his long life. All the more frightening because it was delivered completely devoid of emotion.

"Locked on". With that she disappeared from his vision. Nearly instantly reappearing within his guard and delivering a powerful Jyuuken powered strike straight into his family jewels. Before his brain even had a chance to recognize the crippling pain that would cause she followed up with an even stronger blow right above his heart. A blow he had been unable to defend against and that he knew would be fatal due to his advanced age.

He flew backwards against a cabinet, his old spine mercifully snapping, taking away the agonizing pain in his nether regions in the proces. With his mind cleared by the shock, a small smile appeared on his face as he felt his life force slowly slipping away. Hinata-sama proved without a shadow of a doubt that she was a worthy heir, and he was confident she would make a great leader when the time came. His only regret was that he had allowed his grief to cloud his judgement and she would likely hate him for hurting her best friend.

It was at that scene Hiashi arrived, followed moments later by Kenamo. The latter took one look around, picked up Naruto and disappeared. No doubt rushing to the hospital. Quickly checking on his daughter who had fainted with chakra exhaustion the moment they arrived, he picked her up and hurriedly made his way over to his uncle. The man who had taught him the gentle fist and had been more of a father to him then his real father ever was.

"Don't blame her Hiashi" A weak coughing fit overcame the old man before he was able to finish.

"Ssst, save your strength Chaurau-san." Hiashi responded soothingly, only to turn his head around to shout at one the clan members arriving at the scene. **"Get a medic over here, NOW!"**

"Don't bother kid, you know as well as I do that I will die long before they can get here". Having realised as much Hiashi nodded, grief showing in his eyes.

"Like I said don't blame her, I lost my mind when I felt the beasts' chakra... She stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life and allowed me to die a warriors death with my honor intact. For that... I thank her." He held up his hand as another coughing fit overcame him determined to finish what he wanted to say before the Shinigami collected his soul.

"You sired a worthy heir kid... she really was... amazing..." With those parting words his last breath left his body and Hyuuga Chaurau died with a proud look on his face, in the arms of his closest remaining family member. Content that his clan would have a strong leader for years to come.

 _[End flashback]_

Granted her memory of that day was fragmented at best. She vividly remembered Naruto getting brutally assaulted in her clan house and the feeling of desperation that overcame her as she felt powerless to stop it. Followed moments later by a splitting headache and a painful throbbing of her eyes. The next thing she knew it was the middle of the night, and after she ran into her parents' bedroom convinced for some reason that Naruto was scared and needed her, she found out she had awakened her families' bloodline limit. Her parents told her it had completely exhausted her chakra and she was told in no uncertain terms that she had to go back to bed. Only to be devastated the next day when they went to visit her friend in the hospital and discovered he had lost his memory and couldn't even remember her.

Right now that didn't matter though, something obviously happened to Naruto and he might even need her! With that thought she focused her attention back on him and noticed the ecstatic smile he was sporting, despite the state he was in.

* * *

 _"I finally hit him!"_ Naruto thought exited, thinking back to the 'training' he endured as a result for their prank earlier that morning. He had long ago discovered that he learned fighting better under pressure and getting his gramps riled up was a sure way to fight that way. Unfortunately getting the old man angry wasn't easy, but the snake prank certainly did the job this morning.

"What are you smiling about, Dobe?" Sasuke asked apparently annoyed with him like usual. "You look like you've been run over by a pack of rabid fangirls." Several people shuddered nearly inconceivably at the mental image that his comment produced.

Naruto noticed they were looking at him with contempt again. He didn't know why people did that but for some reason he always had felt like some sort of outcast; the people who didn't stare at him like he was some sort of filthy creature that shouldn't be allowed to exist were a rare breed indeed. It had always been that way. At first only the adults reacted to him that way, shortly after their children took over their elders' behavior. His only other living relative being a Hunter Nin didn't help matters either since she spent nearly as much time away on missions as she did at home.

Early on he noticed that bringing Akane with him outside of his families grounds' seemed to make things worse, as she seemed to be in even more danger then he was. He had decided to leave her at home until the day he would become a Genin, would be able to protect her, and maybe even get some tips from Kiba. One of the few people who treated him normally. Well as normal as Kiba treated people anyway, to train her to be viable in battle.

When his gramps had taken him to the local weapon smith on his fourth birthday it had been one of the best days of his short life. The man had treated him warmly and without contempt, he'd even patiently helped him choose a sword that was suited for his physique. After thirty minutes of trying sword after sword they decided to give him a bit of a breather and let him look around, checking out the displays his eyes fell on a strong and heavy looking blade. It was single edged, straight and had a large metal cross guard placed between the blade and the handle.

The shopkeeper noticed his interest and walked over. He took one of the Nandao, as they were called, that was suited for his length out of the case and handed it over. The moment he tried to use the Southern style Chinese Broadsword they all knew he had found his sword. It felt natural in his hands and unlike the other swords he tried it moved exactly the way he wanted it to, well at least as exact as possible in untrained hands.

On their way back home he proudly carried his new sword with him. When the euphoria of his present wore off a bit though, he noticed his gramps glaring at the villagers who were looking at him and the sword with contempt. As if they disapproved of him learning the art of the swords his clan had been known for. Like with Akane his little fox companion he decided to leave the blade at home until the day he became a Genin.

Being shunned by nearly everyone all of his life and being forced to leave his companion at home whenever he stepped out, left Naruto a little lonely and infused with a need to prove himself and to be acknowledged by others. So he grasped every opportunity to stand in the spotlights forcing people to acknowledge his existence, the opportunity Sasuke's question provided wasn't an exception to this. Just when he gathered his thoughts back to the scene at hand though, he got distracted by a question of the shy girl he had sat down next to when he came in.

"Ano... Naruto-kun? ...what happened to you, are you okay?" She asked with a soft voice. The shy girl next to him hardly ever spoke at all so everyone looked at her in surprise as she ducked her head blushing furiously from the attention she suddenly got. The concern at Naruto's disheveled appearance and his lack of response to his rival immediately forgotten.

Seemingly oblivious to her distress at her situation Naruto jumped back up from his seat, ignoring the pain it caused him and launched excitedly into his explanation. A small smile gracing his lips when he heard her breathe a sigh of relief when he ones again became the centre of the attention.

"I feel great! You see I had this morning training session with gramps, and you should have seen it! He was like cutting me up pretty bad...

"Yeah that's pretty obvious" Sasuke rudely interrupted Naruto, smirking as he looked at the blonds' disheveled appearance.

Glaring at him but further ignoring the jibe for once Naruto continued on with his tale as if he hadn't just been rudely interrupted. "But in the end I expertly parried his attack, moved in through his defense and put my sword right through him in a single move!" He told them avidly with the movements to boot, wincing in pain every once in a while.

"You put a sword right through your own gramps?!" Sakura joined in, in shock. Apparently the comment had taken her off-guard, since she usually ignored him to the best of her ability.

"Pfft, that's just an idle boast, to get attention, if he could use a sword he would have taken it with him for the physical combat tests exams, besides only the ANBU are taught to use them." Ino said from the back of the room.

"Yeah you should have seen it! It was the first time I was able to beat one of his clones!" Naruto continued as if Ino hadn't just blatantly made him out for a liar at all.

"Clones?" Sakura replied dumbstruck.

"Yeah Clones, you know those things that look like you and get created with chakra?" He replied slowly as if he was talking to a particularly dense girl.

"BAKA!" she shouted while she slugged him hard over the head resulting in Naruto having a rather unpleasant meeting with the floor. Shikamaru who had once been a victim of that punch as well, when he had made a comment about her forehead (which seemed to be a touchy subject with the girl for some reason) winced in sympathy. "I know what clones are! But they aren't supposed to be solid… are they?" She replied slightly confused.

Naruto's face lit up in a huge smile when he realized that for once he knew something the beautiful although rather violent Haruno Sakura didn't.

Seeing his face lit up in obvious enjoyment as he picked himself up from the newly created dent in the floor, Sakura groaned in despair. Ino would never allow her to live that one down: not knowing something the Dobe obviously did.

"You see Sakura-chan it's like this." Naruto said adopting a sage like tone of voice.

 **"Alright everyone take your seats."** Their teacher Iruka yelled while he walked into the classroom, effectively cutting Naruto's explanation short before it even started.

Grumbling something about rude people that kept interrupting him all the time he trudged back over to his seat. He was still a bit dizzy due to a lack of blood caused by the multiple cuts all over his body. But he didn't spare it any thought since his body was healing the damage as rapidly as usual and he was already feeling a lot better anyway.

"First of all I would like to apologize for being late. There was a little problem with getting a hold of one of the Jounin sensei this morning so we had to change the teams a bit to adjust to the situation. And as to why we are here today." Iruka continued launching into his speech mode.

"Starting from today you are all official ninja's but, you are all still Genin. It's going to get harder from here. Once your instructors feel you are ready you will start taking mission outside of the village. You will be required to escort nobles, to protect merchants, or even to deliver messages to allied hidden villages. There is a decent chance that you will be required to fight of bandits while protecting a caravan or even enemy ninja. In order for you to learn decent teamwork and develop the skill you need for these missions you will all be put in groups of three where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin rank teacher."

Looking around the class of students he had trained for the last couple of years he noted their surprise at being put in groups. They had started talking excitedly the moment he had let that part of the announcement slip, all of them wondering whom they would be teamed up with. _'Well might as well leave the rest of my speech for the Jounin teaching them'._

"All right listen up. Team 1..." Iruka announced to the class capturing the attention of most of them immediately.

-A few minutes later-

"Next, Team 7. Uchiha Sasuke." Suddenly nearly every single female in the class that hadn't left with their team yet was paying full attention. It had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Nearly every single one of them wanted to be in his team. The Uchiha was good looking, the number one rookie and a talented ninja who had somehow attracted his own female fan club, to this day it still baffled Naruto how he did it since he was usually found either training or brooding and ignored everyone as much as he could.

"Inuzuka Kiba" Iruka continued somewhat nervously seeing the stares of the girls intensifying probably hoping to influence his announcement that way, and throwing jealous glares at Kiba.

Kiba a member of the Inuzuka clan who trained dogs for battle and ended up with some doglike tendencies to boot, groaned rather loudly muttering softly to his young ninja dog Akamaru. Iruka wasn't sure but it sounded like something among the lines of cursing his bad luck at being stuck with the stuck up Uchiha. "And Yamanaka Ino."

A shriek of joy loud enough to make a banshee recoil in shock and cover its ears (like everyone in Konoha was probably doing right about now) followed nearly immediately after. She was a member of the Yamanaka clan who were known for their specialty Jutsu which allows them to take control over someone else's body for a short while.

"Take that forehead girl; I got Sasuke, now it's only a matter of time before he falls in love with me!" Ino taunted her old friend turned love rival for the Uchiha's affections while swinging her hair around.

Sakura was prevented from retaliating to her words when Iruka continued undaunted with practiced ease.

"Your Jounin-sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

A Jounin with a short trimmed ring beard and an utterly lazy expression on his face entered the room and motioned for the newly instated team 7 to follow him outside.

"Next, Team 8. Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Chouji and Aburame Shino." Iruka announced as soon as the door closed behind them, it almost seemed like he feared to be interrupted again.

The horror at his announcement was quite plainly visible on the face of the Haruno girl, while her new teammates seemed completely indifferent to the news. Unlike her new partners she didn't come from a renowned family and she didn't possess a cool bloodline like them. Her parents were merchants who never really understood her drive to become a ninja but they had supported her every step of the way anyway.

Chouji a rather 'big boned' boy who could be seen eating twenty-four hours a day continued doing exactly that from his ever present and apparently bottomless bag of chips, so he could keep up his energy as he put it. And Shino who was the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful clans thanks to their bloodline ability, which allows them to use killer bugs in battle, showed as much emotion as he ever did. He raised an eyebrow over the sunglasses he never seemed to take off, apparently processing what he heard and went back to conversing with the bug on his hand.

"Your Jounin-sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai, due to circumstances she won't be able to meet you here but will be waiting for you three in training ground twelve in one hour from now." Iruka continued.

Having received their orders Team 8 was dismissed to make their way to the said training ground, followed in the shadows by their new sensei who wanted to see how her new team interacted before she introduced herself.

"Since Team 9 already exists, the three of you that are left will be Team 10 and your Jounin Teacher will be Mitarashi Anko who said she'd meet you at training ground Ten in an hour since she was still busy with shouting at your gramps Naruto." Iruka finished with a smile.

Naruto who hadn't been paying much attention to what was happening since he hadn't heard his name yet, was surprised to discover there were only three of them left. And apparently the other two ended up being his teammates. Looking around the room as to determine the identity of the people he was going to team up with, his eyes fell on the shy girl next to him. She was shy, timid had dark hair and fascinating lavender colored eyes.

Those eyes were the signature that made her clan instantly recognizable since they held the power of a special ability that was passed down by her families' blood. Kenamo had once told him that it allowed them to see in nearly 360 degrees range and to see the inner chakra coil system of a person. Her clan was respected and feared all around for the Gentle Fist technique they had developed to exploit their unique ability. As he wasn't a member of a clan the details weren't known to him but it was said they possessed the skill to kill a man with that technique without leaving a single mark on the body.

Hyuuga Hinata as one of his new teammates was called was the complete opposite of the rest of her clan, while they were arrogant, proud and walked around as if they owned the place no matter where they were. She was shy, timid and preferred to stay as far away from the spotlight as humanly possible. How she actually turned out that way in a family like hers was beyond him, but he didn't mind at all. The last thing he wanted was someone as stuck up as the Uchiha in his team.

"Ne, Hinata-chan are you okay?" Naruto asked slightly confused while laying a hand on her head to check for a fever. It didn't matter that he didn't have a clue as to how to tell if she actually did, but he figured since his gramps could always tell whether or not he had one, he would find out by that motion somehow as well. This proved to be too much for the poor girl who had been growing steadily more embarrassed while the object of her affections kept staring at her. The moment his hand made contact she did the only reasonable thing she could at the time… she fainted.

* * *

Coming back around Hinata stared around confused at the change of scenery. Unlike the classroom she'd been at as she expected to find herself in, she saw a large dark room, sporting several large doors. Taking in her surroundings, recognition dawned on her face, she found herself once again in what she assumed was a part of her mindscape.

On her right was a large solid oak door standing slightly ajar allowing a narrow beam of light to filter through, slightly illuminating the room she was in. This door she knew from previous encounters with the room would take her back to her consciousness, back to her class and… even here in her own mind she was inventing new shades of red as she remembered her reason for passing out.

 _"Naruto was staring at me! Not one of my beautiful classmates like Ino or Sakura but me!"_ Admitted though she was the only girl left in the class, Ino and Sakura had left before with their new teams. But maybe he finally started to remember her! And even if he didn't they were in the same team now! It was like a dream come true, surely it was only a matter of time until his memory came back to him now and she'd finally get her best friend back!

 _"Or maybe he was simply lost in thought, only looking in my direction by coincidence without even seeing me..."_ She thought to herself dejectedly.

 _"Don't put yourself down like that!"_ She mentally scolded herself fiercely. _"You have Naruto in your team now, without any other girls to steal him away from you!"_

Cheering up at her own mental scolding she got back to the matter at hand. She was still stuck in her mindscape after all. She knew what she had to do to get back, but like many times before one of the other doors in the room fascinated her. It was much larger than the others, made of thick steel and shut tight by a very complicated looking seal. An ominous yet comforting feeling emanated from it, it felt peculiar, wild, primal yet oddly comforting at the same time. She didn't really understand how those feelings could be comforting, but she couldn't deny that they were all the same. On top of that the curious sensation seemed to be stronger then usual.

Ever since the first time she had arrived in this particular part of her mindscape, the seal had fascinated her, so she took it on herself to scan through her family library and the public ones trying to find out what it meant. She had searched everything she could get her hands on but apart from getting a little knowledge on the basics, it hadn't done her any good. Apparently sealing Jutsu was mainly restricted information only available to ninja who had gotten permission to study it.

None of the scrolls concerning the particular brand of techniques contained a seal even remotely as complicated as the one she was looking at right now however. She had only been able to identify one small part of it after months of research; the seal appeared to be some sort of a trigger. This discovery let her to believe the door would open one day once a certain event had taken place. Perhaps she had to master a certain family Jutsu, or she might have to reach a certain age, or it could be something else altogether. And even then there was no guarantee that she was correct and the door would open, as for its purpose she could only guess.

A faraway sound coming from the other door leading back to her consciousness, drew her attention away from the mystery that had been plaguing her for so long. She couldn't be sure since it sounded so far away but it almost sounded like Naruto worriedly calling out her name.

 _"Naruto is worried about me?"_ She thought incredulously. With that thought set firmly in her mind she completely forgot about the sealed door for now and hurried back to her consciousness so she could ease their worries and let them know she was okay.

"Hinata! Time to wake up! Hinata! Are you alright!?" Having rushed through the open door of her sub-consciousness she was slowly coming to, confirming that it was indeed Naruto who was calling her name worriedly.

"Man this is so troublesome" She heard the unmistakable voice of Shikamaru from her right. "Sensei will be here in ten minutes…"

 _"Ten minutes!"_ Thinking back to Iruka-sensei's words earlier she recalled him saying that their Jounin instructor would be awaiting them at one of the training grounds in one hour. She was shocked as she realized she'd been out cold for nearly fifty minutes. No wonder Naruto-kun was worried about her! Quickly pulling herself back to full awareness she tried to place her feet under herself in order to get up, only to find the ground was missing. Finally she became aware of the strong arms placed under her knees and armpits and a flash of sun-kissed golden hair flashed through her vision..

 _"Naruto-kun is carrying me bridal style!"_ The realization hit her like a ton of bricks causing her earlier blush to reappear with a vengeance, she felt that if possible she was coloring even more then when she passed out initially.

Immediately noticing the color returning to her pale complexion, Naruto who had been staring at her quite intently while trying to bring her to; gently set her back down. Making sure to support her until he could make sure she could stand on her own feet again.

She battled fiercely against her own embarrassment so she wouldn't pass out again as she noticed Naruto wasn't letting go of her. She heard a deep breath escape his mouth as she balanced herself out again.

"Oi Hinata! you're okay!" Naruto remarked happily as he saw she seemed to be alright again. Just as she was about to nod in acknowledgement his next question stopped every single though that was coursing through her mind up short.

"Ne, why did you pass out?" He had asked her sounding confused.

"A..a…ano Na…na…naruto-kun." She was reduced to a nervous stutter, praying that the ground would just swallow her whole, so she would be spared the embarrassment of answering his question. Thankfully for her someone seemed to have heard her prayers as their Sensei decided that that exact moment would be perfect to show up.

"Alright short stuffs follow me!" Anko shouted looking straight at Naruto only to sprint away from them immediately after.

 **"I'm not short, I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!"** Naruto shouted at her in immediate response. He always had been a bit touchy about his height or rather the lack of it. He removed his hand from Hinata's back so he could rush after his new sensei in immediate pursuit.

* * *

Author's note:

First of all thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue, every single one of them was much appreciated and helped keep my muse alive and kicking! As for the other 99% who read it and didn't review: I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Chances are if you are reading this you did. _

This chapter took a bit longer then expected. I had a good bit of the chapter prepared but as usual my muse butted in and scenes just kept appearing. Initially I expected to get the Genin test out of the way in this one... let's just say it didn't work out that way. I'm pretty sure I'll manage to get around to it in the next chapter though ;-)

This morning I looked it over this chapter one last time. With the purpose of proofreading and editing out as much of the errors I could find. Figured I'd have it up in a few hours at the most. So naturally my muse popped up again. Result: another 1200 words added to the chapter and the rating bumping up to M due to the flashback...

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I would love to hear what you thought about it.


	3. Chapter 3: The Genin Exam: Part 1

_**Last time:**_

 _"Ne, why did you pass out?" He had asked her sounding confused._

 _"A..a…ano Na…na…naruto-kun." She was reduced to a nervous stutter, praying that the ground would just swallow her whole, so she would be spared the embarrassment of answering his question. Thankfully for her someone seemed to have heard her prayers as their Sensei decided that that exact moment would be perfect to show up._

 _"Alright short stuffs follow me!" Anko shouted looking straight at Naruto only to sprint away from them immediately after._

 _ **"I'm not short, I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!"** Naruto shouted at her in immediate response. He always had been a bit touchy about his height or rather the lack of it. He removed his hand from Hinata's back so he could rush after his new sensei in immediate pursuit._

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **The Genin exam: part 1**

* * *

Anko was running over the village's rooftops at high speed. A furious Naruto only seconds behind.

 _"Damn brat is definitely quick on his feet. Guess that's how he managed to stay out of the grasp of the Jounin and ANBU chasing him all those times."_

She had been leading them in a chase for about forty-five minutes by now and Blondy wasn't even showing any traces of strain. She winced as Naruto went straight through the chimney she had just gracefully avoided.

 _"He lost every bit of the natural stealth and grace he surprised me with this morning as soon as he lost his temper, I'll need to work with him on that"._

That last thought was putting it mildly. Naruto was pounding across Konoha's rooftops chasing her on all fours. He ran with the grace of a group of stampeding Akimichi, racing to an all you can eat special. Tiles and chimneys flew around as he charged over and sometimes literally through the obstacles in his path.

She was slowly starting to work up a sweat as she switched her attention from the lumbering speeding stamina freak behind her over to the Hyuuga girl. The one she'd seen fainting earlier today, when she was observing her new team. It was obvious the girl was nearly completely out of energy. Anko noticed she began breathing heavily a couple of minutes ago. When she first started falling behind she saw her form a single hand seal. Veins suddenly bulging around the girls' eyes which lit up ablaze with her bloodline. After that Hinata started to cut trough the zigzagging path she was leading Naruto on, taking a shortcut every time she could in order to keep up with their superior speed and stamina.

 _"It looks like she is able to effectively interpret where we are heading even when we fall out of sight."_ Anko contemplated.

She hadn't worked with wielders of the Byakugan before, but she had heard the tales like everyone else.

 _"I'm sure we are out of any normal human's hearing range, even with the ruckus Naruto is making behind me… so it has to be those eyes."_

Deciding to test her theory Anko dropped down into Konoha's maze of back allies and changed direction with Naruto hot on her heels. '

When she resurfaced on the rooftops Hinata seemed to have proven her theory, her special ability actually did appear to enable her to see straight trough obstacles. It was the only explanation she had for the fact that the girl was heading straight for her instead of following Naruto's trail of destruction.

Seeing Hinata stumble in her steps she knew the Hyuuga heiress was at her limit but she still seemed determined to keep going. The girl was a lot like Naruto in that aspect she figured. She had seen the blond working on his Jutsu until he fainted from exhaustion before, when she passed by the Uzumaki property in the past. Just like him Hinata seemed to refuse to give up as long as she could move when she set herself a goal.

 _"Hmm… an admirable trait, I can work with that."_

Looking around she noticed that the third member of her brand new Genin cell was nowhere in sight. It looked like he dropped out of the chase long ago. She could not recall seeing him after five minutes into it, when he had been keeping pace with Hinata.

Deciding it had gone on long enough, since she was starting to break a sweat and had learned what she could from this particular exercise. Anko stored some chakra in her feet, using it to attach herself to the roof and halting her momentum nearly instantly.

Naruto obviously lacking the particular skill of concentrating chakra in ones feet, shot straight past her. He was going way too fast to be in complete control of his movement. Anko couldn't help but laugh when she witnessed what happened next.

Hinata, who had been closing in on her from the opposite side, ended up straight in Naruto's path. Unable to muster the energy to get out of his way in time, she was lifted clean of her feet with a startled shriek as Naruto crashed in to her at high speed. He unconsciously pulled her to him, instinctively trying to protect her, as they rolled in a tangle of limbs over the roof of the Library. Finally coming to a stop in a very compromising position. Legs intertwined with Naruto lying on top of her, with his lips only a scant inch removed from hers.

Hinata shivered as his warm breath tickled her throat and lips. She felt goose bumps erupt all over her body as a result of the sensation, and carefully opened her eyes. Only to stare straight into those dazzling blue orbs of his, which still seemed a little dazed from the crash. As if his close proximity wasn't bad enough for her shy demeanor she noticed that one of his hands had somehow ended up squeezing her posterior during the crash.

With a reflex all women seemed to possess when they are unexpectedly touched in certain places, she screamed loudly and trusted an open palm straight into his chest. Violently shoving him off her and incidentally straight off the roof at the same time. Naruto still dazed from his unexpected tumble with his new teammate, was unable to get his feet under him in time and crashed face first in the concrete below. Naturally that didn't exactly help in clearing his head.

Anko, unable to contain her mirth at the situation she accidentally caused, was rolling on the roof roaring with laughter. Especially when she saw the mortified look on Hinata's beet red face. As the extremely embarrassed girl hurried over to the edge of the roof. So she could check if her favourite loudmouthed blond Shinobi was okay, all the while trying to get an apology over her lips.

"Na…Na…Naruto-kun I'm sorry! A…are you o…okay?" She asked uncertainly cursing herself in her mind for her stutter. A loud groan from the crumpled form on the ground below indicated he was still alive and somewhat conscious.

"Don't worry Hinata-san he has a thick skull." Their missing teammate 'assured' her. A bored sigh escaping his lips as he made his way over to them at a leisurely pace.

"Yeah, don't worry the floor broke my fall." Naruto replied sarcastically from below. Quickly making his way back up to the roof he turned his attention to his new teammate. His previous anger with Anko completely forgotten. He focused all his attention on a steadily reddening Hinata as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Bloody hell Hinata you've been spending way too much time around Sakura, why did you have to hit me like that all of a sudden?" Naruto questioned her somewhat peeved and confused.

"Well short stuff that might have something to do with the way you were groping her butt after you ran into her, and squeezed her body onto your own. I didn't think you'd be interested in girls like that yet." Anko teased winking suggestively at him in the meantime.

Ignoring Naruto who was slowly flexing his offending hand, staring at it, and not reacting to the insult about his height for once, Anko turned her attention to the last member of her new Genin-cell. "So, you must be Shikamaru?" she addressed the lazily approaching Genin.

He was wearing a fishnet shirt not unlike hers, with an unzipped jacked covering it. His rather long black hair was bound tightly in a ponytail pointing to the sky and his dark coloured pants finished the look.

"Why did you drop out of the chase after five minutes?" She asked after he gave her a nod in conformation to his name. He appeared to mumble something she couldn't quite catch before he straightened up and looked straight at her. Without even bothering to waste the energy to reply, he moved over to Hinata and plucked a tracking device out of her coat. He showed it to her as a way of explaining his absence and sat down lazily.

Anko rolled her eyes at his ' _explanation_ ' but couldn't find anything to fault his method on. According to Iruka he was just like his father, smart as hell and as lazy as they came. Supposedly the only reason his score had been average at best was because he kept falling asleep during the written exams and he thought the practical ones took too much effort. His prior instructor had told her he answered just enough questions perfectly to pass and seemed to figure it took too much effort to do any more after that… so he just fell asleep for the remainder of the exam.

"Alright you three sit down and introduce yourself. Tell me your name, likes, dislikes and dream or ambition. You first Blondie."

Back to his usual bundle of energy Naruto jumped up and promptly replied excitedly. His previous thoughts shoved in the pool of things to figure out some other time. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like playing pranks on gramps so he trains me better, training, learning new Jutsu and ramen! I dislike people who treat others badly for no reason. My goal is to become a Kage level Hunter Nin even stronger than gramps!

Anko nodded to acknowledge the information he provided about himself. _"Kind of what I expected, and an interesting motivation he has for pulling pranks on that old bastard."_ She thought while chuckling slightly. She hadn't quite forgiven Kenamo yet for trying to stick her with a Genin team.

"Ok Lazy you're next." She addressed Shikamaru, who seemed to have decided that sitting took too much effort and instead opted for lying down and watching the clouds pass by, while he listened to their introductions. "My name is Nara Shikamaru. I like watching clouds and playing Shougi. I dislike everything troublesome and my dream for the future is…" He answered lazily without even bothering to divert his eyes from the clouds, seemingly thinking about his dream. "I guess my dream is to be an average ninja with an average salary, marry an average looking wife, and have two kids, a girl and a boy. Then retire when my daughter is married and son is independent and eventually die before my wife and kids do." He finished his introduction.

Anko blinked several times not having expected such a detailed answer. _"Guess cloud gazing gave the kid a lot of time to think about his future."_ She thought shaking her head amusedly.

"You're up _Princess_ " Anko continued with a slight mocking tone. Recalling how the girl had been carried bridal style by her teammate after fainting. Hinata cringed at being addressed that way, concluding correctly that her sensei had seen her moment of weakness. Taking a quick breath to center herself, she expertly masked her discomfort a moment later.

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata, I like pressing flowers, creating medical salves, cinnamon rolls and people who continue to try to improve. I dislike people who only see me for my family name and who treat others bad for no reason, and my dream for the future is to improve myself as a stronger ninja and person and to be acknowledged by someone I admire." At the end of her introduction she gave Naruto a longing look, the target of her affections completely oblivious to her stare as he was preoccupied with rubbing his sore butt. It seemed like he hurt it while he was rolling across the roof with her in his arms.

Anko watched a light blush appear on Hinata's face and grinned knowingly at the look she was giving her new teammate. Meanwhile mentally filing away the information Hinata had unintentionally revealed during her introduction. She didn't react well to a little teasing, and wanted to be recognized for who she was and not just for what clan she belonged to. On top of that Anko had little doubt that she had a major crush on Naruto for some reason.

"Ne, Hinata-chan did you say you make medical salves?" Naruto suddenly spoke up breaking everyone out of their own thoughts. Well everyone except for Shikamaru who was lazily observing the clouds again. "Does it work on bruises?" He continued eagerly not even bothering to wait for a reply to his first question.

Not at all used to, nor comfortable with, being at the center of attention. Like she had been finding herself in way too often today in her opinion, Hinata could do naught but nod in conformation while she shakily pulled out a small jar of self made medical cream.

"Sweet!" Naruto called out. Taking the jar out of her hands and promptly dropping his pants while turning around in order to apply the cream to his sore but. Apparently complete oblivious to the fact that he wasn't alone, nor to the effect he was having on a beet red Hinata who had turned around swiftly to avoid passing out again. But not before getting a quick glance in.

A soft hissing could be heard when the cream amplified his own unnaturally fast healing ability, as the vein closed up immediately and the clogged up blood beneath the skin evaporated while it got forced out through his pores. A look of amazement appeared on Naruto's face as he pulled up his pants again. He was used to healing fast but that was simply amazing! Figuring he might as well try if it worked on the scrapes he had gotten while barging through the roofs before, he applied a little bit of it on them, yielding the same amazing results.

Hinata who had turned back around at the hissing sound, completely forgot about her blush when she saw how his wounds simply evaporated under the influence of her medical cream, her mouth opened as she stared in silent shock. _"What the… it never worked that well for me?!"_ She noticed even Shikamaru had taken notice of the display of healing power Naruto had under his disposal. Anko was the only one who didn't seem all to surprised.

Actually noticing the looks his new teammates were giving him Naruto gave them a sheepish smile. "Well since we are teammates now I guess I should tell you. Gramps said my family has a blood limit which allowed them to heal a lot faster than normal. He heals about five times as fast as a normal person of his age. In my case it's about fifty times as fast."

Feeling a bit nervous about the awed look Hinata was giving him and the sadistic smile he got from his sensei, he expertly turned the attention in another direction with a single sentence. "Ne but Hinata your cream is amazing!" He practically shouted, smiling when he noticed his diversion worked. Hinata although obviously pleased by the compliment, started tapping her fingers together in a nervous motion, uncertain as to how to reply to the compliment.

"Okay kids listen up you are free for the rest of the day, go get some dinner together for team building or some crap like that. I'll meet you at 6AM sharp tomorrow at training area 43. You'll get your real Genin test then." Relaying her message at the fastest speed possible she formed a hand seal and quickly disappeared in a small cloud of smoke. She was already pushing a major headache from the events of the morning and really didn't want the expected outburst of the trio to add to the problem.

Naruto was staring at the spot of rapidly dissipating smoke dumbly, slowly rerunning the message of his new sensei in his head. "Free for the rest of the day… hmm ye got that and uhm… o yeah eat Ramen together! And … **What!? Real Genin test! But we already passed!"** He shouted at the empty spot where Anko had been only moments before.

"Troublesome…" He heard Shikamaru mumble, as a long drawn out sigh escaped the lazy genin's lips. Shikamaru didn't appear to be surprised at all by the news unlike his two teammates. "Did you really believe that the stupid Genin exam we got at the academy would be good enough to test our personal skills for the job of a ninja? You should have been able to predict something troublesome like this." He replied in response to Naruto's questioning gaze, his voice steady and calm, and his signature bored expression being the only emotion he showed.

The short slumping of his shoulders was the only indication Shikamaru got that Naruto had relented to his fate of having to face another one of those damn exams… Only to bounce straight back to his usual upbeat personality a split second later. "Well you heard the lady let's go eat some ramen!"

* * *

 **"What!? Real Genin test! But we already passed!"** Anko winced as the volume of Naruto's voice pounded in her ears from a few blocks away. _"Bloody hell that brat is loud, thank god I wasn't at ground zero for that one."_

Looking around she noticed she reappeared close to the Hyuuga compound in her haste to get away. _"Fat chance of getting in and out of there undetected tonight with those bloody eyes of theirs."_

It took her a couple of minutes to walk around the compound and reach the main gate. _"So far I can't see any obvious ways in, no shock there. The guards are further apart then normal but since they can simply look through obstacles that would create blind spots for me to use, that won't help me either... Let's see if Hiashi is there"._

"Oi pretty boy, I need to talk to Hiashi, is he available?" She asked one of the guards as she walked up to the gate.

"I could inquire, what would be the reason of your visit, miss...?" The guard asked, raising an eyebrow in contempt at her attire and form of address.

"Mitarashi Anko, I need to talk to him because Hinata was assigned to my team." Anko replied, eyes narrowing. She hadn't missed the non-verbal slight.

Realizing he was talking to a superior the guard snapped to attention. "One minute please ma'am. I'll find out right away!"

Anko blinked a few times at the empty spot the guard used to be in. "What got his panties in a bunch?" She asked the other guard who seemed to be trying to stifle her amusement.

"Don't mind him Mitarashi-san, he has a bit of an attitude problem. Hiashi-sama saw him addressing Kenamo-sama in a similar disrespectful way the other week. And well let's say he made it clear such insubordination is not to be tolerated."

"I never cared all that much about the whole ranking stuff when I'm not in the field, it's why I never mentioned mine in the first place." Anko shrugged. "Still for a reaction like that, the punishment must have been pretty bad."

Before she could get a reply the other guard returned in what must have been a record time. "Hiashi-sama can see to you now Mitarashi-san. If you would please follow me?" He said while bowing.

"Sure lead the way." She responded, giving a nod to the other guard as she followed him. She took in her surroundings as soon as she entered the grounds, instinctively making a mental map of the area. Checking for security measures, patrols, the location of the inhabitants and looking for the best way out if she needed to make a quick exit. It was something that had been drilled into her and saved her life on multiple occasions.

Her escort obviously noticed as well as he turned to address her. "I would like to formally apologize for my behavior at the gate, Mitarashi-san. I should not have acted in such a manner."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. It's not like I addressed you formally and stuff in the first place, I don't care to much about that stuff."

"Thank you. And uhm... could you please refrain from mentioning my lack of professionalism to Hiashi-sama? I'm still sore from the last time..." He mumbled the last bit, likely not intending for her to hear it.

Her curiosity peaked she decided to ask him about it. "Sure, but only if you tell me what happened the other week. Your fellow guard mentioned something about you being rude to the old man?"

Wincing slightly he replied. "Well how was I supposed to know that the crazy old man was the legendary Eagle, he wasn't even carrying his sword! He was just talking to that overgrown bird and tried to walk straight through the gate! So I stopped him and tried to turn him away. When he told me he was here to talk to little Hiashi-kun I though he was just some senile old man. So I _offered_ to take him back to the nice nurses in the retirement home as they were surely looking for him. Next thing I knew Hiashi-sama was standing behind me and ordered me to report to the training grounds as a Jyuuken-practice dummy for his daughters. I had to spend two days in recovery after that while getting remedial lessons in recognizing powerful ninja's! I really don't want to find out what happens if Hiashi-sama finds out I screwed up again today..."

Not trusting herself to speak as she tried to contain her mirth at his story, Anko nodded in agreement. Most of the tension left her guide as he sighed in relief, giving her a quick look of gratitude. They reached the end of the courtyard and entered the main building. She continued to follow him through a maze of corridors, eventually arriving at a door near the center of the mansion. He mentioned for her to stop as he knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in" she heard Hiashi's authoritative voice from within.

"Mitarashi-san is here to see you Hiashi-sama".

"Thank you Akiku, let her in and return to your post."

Bowing respectfully to his clanhead he turned around and motioned for her to enter.

Upon entering the office she saw Hiashi sitting in the formal seiza position, as was to be expected from the head of an ancient and noble clan. He motioned for her to take a seat across from him as she habitually took in her surroundings. Like the rest of the ridiculously large mansion it was build in a traditional style. Warm colored wooden panels making up the walls, most likely with hidden areas. The flooring was done with tatami mats and a low table was situated between them. A vaguely familiar ornate porcelain tea ceremony set resting on it.

She couldn't prevent her eyes widening in a brief show of surprise when she spotted it. _"Only a handful of people know I enjoy the tea ceremony. How did he find out?"_ Suddenly feeling under dressed as one was supposed to be wearing a Kimono for these occasions, she closed her coat and set down in a seiza. The unusual calm state of mind she could only achieve during these moments settling over her. Neither said a word as Hiashi performed the tea ceremony to perfection before her well trained eyes. Fully aware of the rare honor she was being shown by Hiashi himself performing the ceremony for her, she decided to wait for him to speak.

She watched him as he carefully cleaned and stored the porcelain behind a hidden panel. A sad look of remembrance appearing on his stoic face as he sat back down and stared at a picture facing away from her on his desk.

"I see my late wife was right when she told me that nothing calmed you down like a good tea ceremony. You always where her favorite student you know."

At her dawning look of comprehension, as she suddenly realized where she had seen the tea set before, Hiashi showed her the picture he had been looking at. It featured a younger version of him with a five or six year old girl clinging to his leg. His arm lightly embracing a very familiar beautiful woman, who was looking lovingly at a baby in her arms.

"Rei-oneesan..." she hesitantly reached out for the picture of the only person who had reached out to her when she came back to the village. When everyone distrusted her for being Orochimaru's apprentice, who had gotten banished from the village. Rei had taken her under her wing and introduced her to the tea ceremony. Given her a way to escape the scorn and to center herself.

 _"So she was The Lady Hyuuga, the clan heads' wife. That explains why no-one ever said something when she was around. I wonder why she never told me..."_

"I should have known Hinata was hers, she's like a carbon copy of her."

"She is, Hinata is a lot like her and not just in appearance. She has the same kindness and the same protective streak Rei had." Hiashi reminisced, before visibly gathering himself and once again focusing his attention on the present.

"So you are Hinata's new jounin-sensei. What can I do for you Mitarashi-san." Hiashi stated, without any of the contempt she had subconsciously expected. And just like that the moment was broken.

"She was assigned to me, but I'm not her sensei yet. They'll have to pass my test first. Considering my reputation, I didn't expect you to accept your heir being trained by the 'Snake Mistress' without a fight." Anko challenged, curious about what he thought of her.

"Rei always spoke highly of you. My wife was an amazing judge of character and I have no reason to believe she was wrong about you. Besides I can tell you are a powerful Kunoichi and you wouldn't have been assigned a genin team if you aren't capable of protecting them. Who are the other two?"

"Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto. The Nara kid is just like his father and Hinata seems to be rather fond of Naruto. They make an interesting team I admit." Anko replied. She was rather touched by the faith he showed her, add the fact that he had obviously loved the one woman who had taken care of her back then, raised her opinion of him a fair bit. As a result she left her usual boisterous personality out of the conversation for now.

"I'm not surprised they basically grew up together until they were seven years old. She still remembers those days fondly."

"They did?" Anko replied surprised. "The way they interacted didn't seem like two kids that grew up together. It was more like the lovestruck girl and Mr. oblivious. Although he did seem unusually worried when she fainted. Hell he carried her all the way to the training grounds."

"I'm not surprised." Hiashi replied. "There was an... _incident_ on Naruto's seventh birthday. He suffered a severe head injury and lost most of his memories up to that day. According to the doctor they might return eventually but the chances are slim. Hinata was devastated when he couldn't remember her. She was a lot more outgoing before that day. Maybe you can help her come out of her shell Anko-san."

Anko took a moment to contemplate the information Hiashi revealed. Reading between the lines by looking at what he didn't say. _"The 'incident' was likely someone assaulting Naruto. Probably a clan member. He wouldn't have concealed the part of what actually happened had it been a simple accident or if he'd been attacked by an outsider. Hinata has obviously been severely shaken by it so she was likely there when it happened. It wouldn't have affected her personality like that otherwise. Let's see if I'm right._

"Does Hinata remember what happened when Naruto was attacked?" She probed.

"I see your reputation in T&I is well deserved. Yes she was there when it happened but she seems to have repressed the memory. As far as I can tell she doesn't remember any specifics." Hiashi replied impressed with her deduction.

"I'll help her, even if she doesn't pass my test. I owe Rei-oneesan at least that much." She declared her mind made up.

"Thank you, Mitarashi-san I hope you can succeed where I couldn't. But that wasn't why you asked to see me, was it?"

"Ah right! I nearly forgot. I'm going to break into this place somewhere tonight to test Hinata's awareness, in order to do that I have to make it passed security. I'm not asking you to simply let me in, there would be no fun in that. But I would appreciate some kind of signature that allows me to continue if they do manage to catch me."

Taken off-guard by the brazen admission and request Hiashi gathered his thoughts before replying. _"From what Kenamo told me she specializes in assassination and interrogation, that means her stealth and infiltration skills must be on a very high level. It would make for a good safe test of our security. She must be worried though, I doubt she would have asked otherwise."_

"You don't strike me as the kind of person to ask for permission Mitarashi-san. I'd almost think you're worried about getting caught?" Hiashi replied slightly teasing.

"Normally I wouldn't be, I've gotten in and out of places like this tons of times, but their guards didn't have x-ray vision. And I can't really test the kids if I'm in an ANBU holding cell you know. I simply don't have enough information nor the time to get it unless you help me out." She shrugged, while she was confident in her skills she didn't survive this long in her field by overestimating her own abilities.

Hiashi took out his writing supplies and wrote a short note finalizing it with his personal seal, so there would be no doubt about it being authentic. "If you show this to the guards they will know you have my personal permission to be on the grounds tonight so you can test our security." He explained as he handed her the note. "I'll let Kenamo and Shikaku-san know about your test as well. How much do you know about the Byakugan?"

"Thanks." She said as the accepted the note and stored it away in one of her pockets. "Let's see from what I managed to observe from your daughter this morning, when I made them chase me around the village... It's not always on but needs to be consciously activated, she used the ram seal for it. From what I could tell it allowed her to observe Naruto and me straight through a whole block of buildings from over 100 meters away. She only used it after a while which suggests it's not to easy on the chakra. I've never really worked with a Hyuuga before and I didn't spar with them yet so I wasn't able to deduct anymore than that."

"Impressive, over 100 meters? That's much further then I thought she could see at this time." He said, basically confirming her suspicions. "Allow me to give you a brief demonstration from some of the things you could find out easily enough."

After Anko nodded in permission the veins around Hiashi's eyes bulged as he activated them without any hand seals. "You are currently armed with 15 kunai in easy reach, some ninja wire, 10 explosive tags, a storage scroll and one Katar in each sleeve. Behind me on the roof is a birds nest with 2 eggs, the left one is about to hatch. And it looks like the roots from the Sakura tree damaged the west wall approximately 50 meters south of Hinata's room. I'll have to remember to have that fixed tomorrow." He told her all of this without turning his head in the slightest.

"So on top of x-ray vision you can literally see out of the back of your head? That's just so unfair. That basically means that if one of the guards activates his eyes it's game over for me. You wouldn't need more then one guard if you had that range all around though."

"True, I'll let you in on one secret that isn't widely known so you can adequately test my security tonight. It goes without saying that I trust you not to spread this information Mitarashi-san." His tone going back to that of the stern clan leader most people knew him as. Leaving no doubt as to how serious he was about this.

"Of course."

"Most Hyuuga can't see through objects over 30 meters away unless they focus their vision in a single direction. I won't inform the guards of this and I'll pay you a standard C-rank fee for testing our defenses. If you manage to get in and out undetected I'd like a report of how you did it and what needs to be improved in our security. Also if you manage I'll increase the pay to a B-rank."

"Sounds good to me, I look forward to the challenge, besides it will be good training. I really need get going though, I've still got a lot to prepare."

"I won't keep you any longer then, thank you for your visit Mitarashi-san. Can you find the way or would you like me to summon an escort?"

"I'll be fine on my own, oh and the name's Anko, feel free to use it." With those final words she took her leave, using the opportunity to get an idea of the security as she was sure Hiashi intended for her to do.

* * *

Slowly but surely a dark clad figure made her way through the Uzumaki complex with a snakelike grace. She was moving in an agonizingly slow pace, measuring each step with utmost precision, silently thankful that the old man had once told her about the complex sealing structure in the property. Which among other things would alert its residents once a seal was disturbed or activated.

"Damn place has more security on it then the Hokage residence for crying out loud! Bloody seal experts and their paranoia…" She grumbled. Only to jump away reflexively, when right in front of her face, a small note appeared in an equally small cloud of smoke. Quickly summoning a small snake out of her sleeves she ordered it to carefully open the note, while she stood at a safe distance. Ignoring the pleading look of the small sacrificial summoned minion, which surprisingly enough appeared to realize the extreme amount of danger it found itself in. She urged it to open the note. Both summoner and summoned snake released a relieved breath when it turned out to be harmless. She couldn't help but face fault when she read the message however:

 _It's only paranoia if they aren't out to get you. And since you are reading this I'm obviously not paranoid!_

Deciding to ignore the note and the curious timing of its arrival for now, she focused her attention back to what little knowledge she possessed about seals, namely detecting them. Kenamo had refused to tell her more than that, according to him it was a good training for her skills in infiltration, even if they were among the best in the village. Silently Anko agreed, not that she'd ever admit it. Avoiding each seal she could detect she slowly neared Naruto's bedroom door. A loud snoring noise made itself heard, originating from inside of the room. Slowly she loosened the strap that held the Kunai she always kept on hand while she soundlessly entered the room. The loud snoring was getting more profound as she came closer to the calmly moving lump in the bed.

 _"Blondy didn't even wake up… looks like I'll be sending another team back to the academy. At least I won't lose that bet with Kakashi and pass a team before he does. I'll just tag the kid and test the others."_ Acting on her decision Anko promptly tore the blanket off of a snoring Naruto and froze. Instead of an unruly mob of blond hair as she expected to find, she stared straight in the wide open maw of Akane, Naruto's pet fox. Said fox was snoring like a bear in hibernation while lying on her back with her paws sprawled out in several directions.

 **"Ha! Got you now you evil thief!"** Before she had time to recover from the unexpected sight in his bed, Naruto pounced on her from behind and started bonking his fist on her head, convinced she was some sort of thief judging by what he was shouting. Taken completely by surprise a huge anime style sweat drop appeared on the back of her head. Now THAT was something she certainly hadn't expected…

 **"Alright! Bring it on! I'm ready!"** Smashing in the door, the old Uzumaki Kenamo stormed into the room, a cooking pot on his head with something that looked suspiciously like ramen dangling from one of his ears, and a bottle of milk in his hand which he was holding up threateningly as a weapon. Without even bothering to check who Naruto was thumping on he brought up the bottle and swung it down… Anko saw the attack coming and instinctively dodged. Naruto who was still positioned on her back and clobbering on mercilessly wasn't so lucky however. He ended up straight in the bottles path and got knocked off of her by the old man when it hit his head with a resounding crack.

 **"What the hell are you doing you old coot?! You knew I would break in tonight! You actually told me how to get past that shitload of seals so I could test the brat here!"** Anko bellowed in his face.

"Huh? What seals?" Kenamo was looking at Anko like she had just grown a second head, as he didn't seem to have a clue what she was talking about in his current half awake state.

 **"What do you mean what seals?! I mean the bloody things that this whole freaking place is covered in! And why the hell are you wearing a cooking pot filled with ramen on your head?"** Kenamo who had been looking on in confusion during her entire tirade suddenly woke up completely and a look of wide eyed horror instantly appeared on his face. Slowly as if dreading the result he picked up his makeshift helmet from his head and stared for a full five seconds at the ruined ramen that was left in the cooking pot.

 **"NOOOOO! MY RAMEN!"** Sounded the simultaneous deafening wail of both residents of the house. Completely forgetting about her they rushed out of the room and onto the street in the direction of Ichiraku ramen, still wearing their PJ's and not even taking into consideration that the shop wouldn't open for another ninety minutes.

Amused Anko laughed shaking her head at the uncommon behavior of the Uzumaki's. She took one last look at the loudly snoring fox which was still lying sprawled out on the bed. Akane was happily snoring on, completely oblivious to the events that played out around her only moments ago. _"Seriously, how is she still asleep after all that? Is she deaf or something? Hmm maybe I should poke her with a kunai..."_

Acting on the strange impulse she once again grabbed her kunai and swiftly moved over to the oblivious little fox. Just as she was about to softly poke her, Akane's tail whipped out and slapped the hand holding the kunai with a surprising amount of force. Immediately grabbing the weapon after Anko reflexively let it go, and threw it in the general direction of the window. The sound of splintering wood was a clear sign that she missed it as the kunai went straight through the wall instead.

 _"Note so self, there is nothing normal about the Uzumakis' animals. You should've known better by now..."_ Taking another look at the fox that was somehow still asleep or really good at faking it... she formed a single seal and disappeared from the premises. On to the next target... the Hyuuga clan.

* * *

Anko smiled as watched a drunkard approaching the southern wall of the Hyuuga compound. _"He'll be perfect for drawing that guard out."_

She quickly molded her chakra as she expertly wove a low level Genjutsu over his mind. As the illusion settled he no longer saw a wall but a public toilet.

"Finally!" He called out. "A loo, I really hav'ta take a piss." He made a beeline for the wall, opening up his pants along the way.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, relieving yourself against our wall?" Came the furious outcry from the guard as he appeared on top of the wall.

Startled the drunkard turned towards the source of the voice as Anko released the illusion. She saw realization appear on his face as his eyes widened and he made a run for it, not even bothering to cover up as he fled.

 _"Perfect she deactivated her Byakugan."_ Carefully taking aim she watched as the guard looked at the fleeing man in disgust before turning around to resume her patrol. With pinpoint accuracy Anko threw the senbon right between her cervical vertebrae. The fast acting neurotoxin, combined with the pressure point she struck, preventing the guard from raising the alarm.

Moving quickly she caught her as she fell, carried her into the park across the street, administered the antidote and promptly knocked her out. Not leaving anything to chance Anko quickly gagged her and tied her up so she wouldn't be able to raise the alarm if she woke up sooner then expected.

Molding her chakra once again she formed a clone and had it transform into the guard. _"It won't hold up on close inspection but it should buy me a bit of time."_ She figured as she silently made her way across the roof of clan compound, careful to stay out of sight of the remaining guards.

 _"Just a little bit further… well shit."_ She looked straight into the beady eyes of the damn bird that Hiashi had mentioned the other day. Before she had the chance to think of a way out the bird let out a warning caw, alerting the guards below her.

"Byakugan".

 _"And there goes the bonus._ " Anko thought as she stood up straight and raised her arms in the universal sign of surrender. A few seconds later she found herself surrounded by three guards.

"You are trespassing on clan grounds, who are you and what are you doing here?" Fortunately her easy surrender as soon as she knew she was caught had prevented the guards from attacking straight away.

"Mitarashi Anko, Ninja Registration 011226. I'm the appointed jounin-sensei to Hyuuga Hinata and here to test your security, on your clan heads' request, while I test my new student." She promptly replied. "I've got the assignment in my pocket."

Reaching out the guard in front of her reached into the indicated pocked and took out the note Hiashi had given her.

"Her story checks out, this has Hiashi-sama's personal seal on it. You are free to carry on Mitarashi-san." The other guards relaxed as he handed the note back to her. "Come on guys, back to guard duty."

The situation resolved she was left alone again. Considering they already caught her anyway she repositioned herself away from the bird and it's nest. If the ruckus the guards made hadn't woken Hinata up, setting off the damn bird again almost certainly would.

"Once we're done with our shift I'm going to buy something really nice for that bird. Hiashi-sama would've had our hides if it hadn't alerted us to Mitarashi-san." She overheard the guards as she closed in on Hinata's room.

As she stealthily approached the bedroom window she felt a sudden flare of chakra from inside. _"Well done princess, you pass this part."_ She dismissed her clone and disappeared in a quick Shunshin as light suddenly flooded the area and the whole clan seemed to be awoken by some sort of alarm.

* * *

Anko took stock of her surroundings as she arrived at the last target of the night, the Nara residence. _"Let's see, no elaborate sealing matrix's as far as I can tell and no visible patrols. It can't be that easy."_

Her senses on full alert she carefully made her way through the trees towards the compound. _"There's plenty of cover, I must be missing something there's no way their clan compound is undefended. I mean I heard of the Nara laziness but this is pushing it."_

Spotting movement in her peripheral vision, Anko immediately froze. Looking past the mansion towards the edge of the Nara forest, she spotted a majestic stag with black colored antlers. It seemed to be looking straight at her for a few moments before gracefully turning around and once again disappearing in the thick shadows of the forest.

Not taking any chances after having her cover blown by a bird off all things earlier, she quickly and noiselessly made her way into the compound through a conveniently opened window.

 _"They must really love their deer."_ She thought as she looked at the murals depicting them along the walls in the flickering candlelight.

Taking a moment to make sure no one noticed her entering she listened carefully. Not hearing anything unusual she silently continued her search for Shikamaru's room. Luck seemed to be with her for a change as she spotted his name on the first door she reached. Quietly pushing it open she carefully entered his room.

A cold shiver made its way down her spine as she beheld the shadows surrounding the area. _"I don't know what it is, but something is off about those shadows."_

Unlike the usual feeling of comfort she got when she used them for stealth, these shadows felt unfamiliar and dangerous. Suppressing another shiver she steeled herself and did what she did best. She hid herself in the almost unnaturally thick shadows and moved towards her destination making sure she did everything she knew to hide her presence.

 _"Naruto surprised me when he detected me, but I bet the old man had something to do with that, it would be just like Kenamo to ambush the kid on a regular basis in order to train him. Hinata… well I would have been disappointed if she wouldn't have with those eyes of hers and the ruckus those guards made when they finally noticed me. I wonder if Shikamaru can do the same."_ Anko pondered while she carefully snuck towards her target.

The shadows got thicker and more oppressing as she closed in on her target. _"I heard the Nara's can manipulate the shadows which supposedly made them ideal assassins. If only half the stories of the single Nara that actually pursued such an active occupation are true, he's bound to have a lot of potential as an assassin. I''ll just have to find a way to motivate him."_ A sadistic grin appeared on her face as soon as that last thought hit her.

She found herself anticipating training her team in her expertise and started thinking of training programs. Even though she had sworn never to take a team of brats years ago when she had become a Jounin.

Therefore she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when she found herself lurking over the relaxed form of her last Genin. _"Just when I find myself actually warming up to the idea of training my own little assa- eh Genin, lazyboy here decides to fail the first little test."_

Grudgingly accepting the fact that she'd have to fail them after all since she was only a gesture away from the 'kill', Anko sighed in resignation and attempted to to mark him as killed, only to find that it was simply impossible to move a muscle.

"I would ask you to identify yourself but I already know who you are… Anko-sensei. Now I'm going to release you from my shadow bind and I'd appreciate if you left my room, I still have thirty minutes of sleep left thank you very much."

Anko couldn't suppress a smile when Shikamaru released the Jutsu and ignored her completely in favor of getting some more sleep. Happy on some level that he had passed anyway she left the room, and headed over to training ground 43 so she could prepare for the last part of the exam. By now the kids had made her really curious as to how well they would perform. By normal standards they would've passed by now, but Anko wasn't the average ninja and expected nothing less from her students.

Now though it started to look like her long standing contest with Kakashi would end sooner then she had expected. After all those Genins she had found lacking to her high standards and sent back to the academy, she finally found a team that made it to the second test, and actually stood a chance of passing.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Sorry for the longer wait, I had a lot of studying to do for some exams I needed to pass for my new job and this took up a lot of my time. I have since managed to pass them though so that's one thing less to keep me from writing on ;-)

I tried to get this chapter out last week and actually had it finished but I just wasn't happy with some parts of it. In particular the Hyuuga scene. So I decided to bin it and rewrite the whole thing. Unfortunately I actually managed to give myself a concussion [don't ask] which made it difficult to write in a coherent way for a while which delayed me even further. In the first version Anko never had the meeting with Hiashi and the whole infiltration of the Hyuuga compound took up about 500 words... so yeah that changed a bit and I believe for the better. So I hope it was worth the wait.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the update and I would love to hear what you thought of it. So please review ;-)


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